
November 25, 2007
A1c (Glycohemoglobin, HgbA1c)
Question from Walla Walla, Washington, USA:
Is it possible for an A1c to be swayed by the actual blood sugar reading at the blood draw time? On more than one occasion, we have noticed better A1cs when the blood sugar is in perfect range at test time and higher A1cs when the blood sugar is high at test time. Is this just our imagination?
Answer:
Not an infrequent question, but it is your imagination. The A1c is determined over a relatively long time; we think up to three months. It certainly is not influenced by that individual glucose to any degree at all (way less than 1%). It is the most important thing we measure to help us know that glucose is either controlled or not controlled. Work for an A1c of less than 7.0 if you can.
LD