About Hba1c

Fifty-seven million Americans were considered pre-diabetic in 2007, and 1.6 million new cases of diabetes are diagnosed each year in people age 20 and above, according to the American Diabetes Association. A simple blood analysis called the HbA1c test can determine if you're among these statistics.

What the Test Measures

• The test measures how much glucose has been circulating in the blood during the past two to three months. Daily fluctuations in blood sugar do not influence HbA1c readings, so a person does not have to fast beforehand.

What is HbA1C

• Blood is comprised of four main parts: plasma, red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. Hemoglobin is a protein component of red blood cells, and Hemoglobin A makes up 90 percent of it. Hemoglobin A is further broken down into fractions called A1c, A1b, A1a1 and A1a2. When insulin fails to efficiently metabolize dietary glucose, this sugar remains in the blood and attaches to the A1c fraction of hemoglobin. Your doctor also may refer to this fraction as glycated or glycosylated hemoglobin.

Healthy Levels

• The amount of HbA1c present in the blood is proportionate to the concentration of glucose in the blood over the past few months. Non-diabetic individuals have an HbA1c level of less than 6.5 percent of total hemoglobin, according to 2010 guidelines from the National Institutes of Health.

Diabetic Recommendations

• If you are diabetic, the NIH recommends keeping the level of HbA1c at 7 percent or below. Levels above 7 percent may indicate that the patient requires stricter management of his disease.