Can I Predict My A1C Hemoglobin Test Results?
You can use the blood glucose readings you obtain at home to predict the results of your A1C hemoglobin test. The hemoglobin A1c test done at the lab is used by your doctor to estimate the control you have had during the past three months of your glucose in the blood. The results should be pretty close to yours if you have properly monitored your blood sugar.
What is hemoglobin A1c?
Hemoglobin A is a protein found inside your red blood cells and its main function is to carry oxygen throughout your body. When there are high levels of sugar in your blood (glucose), the sugar molecules can stick (glycate) to the hemoglobin A protein molecules.
Once the sugar in your blood sticks to a hemoglobin protein, it typically remains attached to it for the life of the protein hemoglobin A — about 120 days. The A1c test measures how much sugar in your blood is stuck to hemoglobin A. If your blood sugar levels have been high during the recent weeks, your hemoglobin A1c test will also be high.
What’s a normal result for the Hemoglobin A1c test?
The Hemoglobin A1c test tells you how well you are controlling you’re your blood sugar over a period of several months. It measures how much glucose (blood sugar) is attached to your red blood cells. This interaction with glucose occurs slowly and becomes permanent over time, about 3 months.
For people without diabetes, the normal range for the hemoglobin A1C test is between 4% and 6%. Anything above these numbers means diabetes. The target for people with diabetes is a hemoglobin A1c less than 7%. You need to be aware that the A1C test can show a false result in cases of anemia.
Although the test cannot tell you whether you are having frequent ups and downs in your blood sugar levels, along with self-monitoring of blood sugar, has made good blood sugar control possible for people with diabetes.
When to check your blood sugar
In order to predict your A1C results you need to check your blood sugar levels with your blood sugar monitor at different times of the day. Here are the best times to measure them:
- As soon as you get up in the morning
- Before breakfast, lunch, and dinner
- Two hours after breakfast, lunch, and dinner
A blood sugar level higher than 200 mg/dl two hours after a meal is too high.
How to predict your A1C results
You can use your self-monitoring blood glucose results to predict your AC1. Here is how:
- Average all your blood sugar check results each week
- Find your average on the table below
- Read across to the A1C number
The ranges in the table below are the ones established by the American Diabetes Association (ADA). Find out if your laboratory’s A1C is different from this one and use it to revise this table. According to ADA, the non-diabetic range is 4-5 to 6.5%.
|
Average Glucose (mg/dl) |
Predicted A1C % |
|
<100 |
<6.5 |
|
100 – 120 |
6.5 – 7.0 |
|
121 – 140 |
7.0 – 7.5 |
|
141 – 160 |
7.5 – 8.0 |
|
161 – 180 |
8.0 – 8.5 |
|
>180 |
>8.5 |
A lower range of A1C means fewer complications
We know that the lower your A1C, the lower your risk of eye, kidney, and nerve disease. Therefore, you should try for the best average blood sugar that you can to reduce your risk of having diabetes complications. Avoid, however, seriously low blood sugar levels that may lead to hypoglycemia.
The United Kingdom Prospective Diabetes Study (UKPDS) included more than 5,000 patients with type 2 diabetes during the period of 1977 and 1991. This study showed that for every percentage point decrease in A1C (from 9% to 8%), there was a 25% reduction in deaths related to diabetes.
It also showed that eye disease, kidney disease, and possibly nerve disease were preventable as a result of lowering blood glucose levels.
Final word
There is no need for you to be guessing for 3 or 4 months what your A1C results will be, because the waiting can cause you some stress. Monitoring a few times a day your blood sugar will probably remove the anxiety of the unknown and at the same time will help you to have a better control of your ups and downs in blood sugar.
To your good health!
Emilia Klapp, R.D., B.S.
www.TheDiabetesClub.com
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