Quick A1c Calculator: All You Need To Know About A1c In 2017
Have you heard your doctor or friends mention the term A1C and wonder to yourself what in the world does it mean? Or its could be familiar word, but you never really understood what it meant for you? Fret not. After reading this, youll know exactly what A1c is, what your ideal A1c should be, and how you can estimate A1c using an A1c calculator/converter. And I promise Ill make it easy for you to understand. What does A1c stand for? HbA1C is a medical term, and refers to glycated haemoglobin. Haemoglobin is the oxygen-carrying molecule in your red blood cells. So this is actually a measure of how much glucose is attached to the haemoglobin in your red blood cells. It is done as a blood test, usually ordered by your doctor every 3 6 months if you have diabetes. Youll see your result displayed as a percentage in your blood test report . Since your red blood cells typically live for approximately 8-12 weeks, your A1c number serves as a marker of your average blood glucose levels over the past 2 3 months. This is how a typical A1c result will look like in your blood test report. What is a normal A1c level? And how about in diabetes/ prediabetes? A healthy person has an A1c of 5.6% or less. A person with Prediabetes usually has a A1c between 5.7% and 6.4% A person is diagnosed with Diabetes when his or her A1c is more than 6.5%. The higher your average blood glucosContinue reading > >
What Does A1c Actually Measure
A1C is not blood glucose . Itâs closely related, but not quite the same thing. If you want to explore this more, check out our support page. For now, what you need to know is that blood glucose is the amount of sugar in the blood by weight at the moment you measure it.
So, what are A1C measurements? Theyre a representation of the amount of glucose stuck to the hemoglobin in the blood over the months-long lifetime of your blood cells. When bound to sugar, youd call this hemoglobin A1C, giving us the moniker A1C. The lower it is, the lower your risk of diabetes.
Why Use An A1c Calculator
Self-monitoring tools such as traditional blood glucose meters , continuous blood glucose monitors , and automatic blood glucose monitors report blood sugar in mg/dL or mmol/L, not a percentage. As a result, it can be difficult to understand the relationship between your daily blood sugar levels and your A1c results. An A1c calculator may give you a sense of how your average blood glucose matches up with the individual readings you take.
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When Should I Get My Hemoglobin A1c Test
You should test your A1c levels as a preventive test if you are over 45 or under 45 and overweight. You should also consider it if you have one of the diabetes risk factors, such as:
- History of familial diabetes
- Low physical activity
- High blood pressure
- High level of blood cholesterol
- History of gestational diabetes or having given birth to a baby weighing over 9 pounds.
Check out your individual diabetes risk with our comprehensive diabetes risk calculator.
What Is Estimated Average Glucose
Estimated average glucose, eAGsummarizes the blood glucose level during the past 3 months.
We obtain it by transforming percentage of HbA1c to eAG value, given either in mg/dL or mmol/L.
Why does the eAG measure exactly 3 past months?
The estimated average glucose range comes from the HbA1c measurements that estimate the amount of the particular protein located within the red blood cells.
The average lifespan of a red blood cell equals 120 days, which is almost 4 months â but we must remember that not all the blood cells are being born and die at the same time. To receive accurate readings, we need to make sure that most of the cells that we study were alive during the period weâd like to measure â thatâs why weâre confident of 3, not 4 months.
Hey! You can check the foods that increase your estimated average glucose with our glycemic index or glycemic load tools.
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Estimated Average Glucose Calculator
Translating the A1C assay into estimated average glucose values.
The estimated average glucose calculator converts the value of glycated hemoglobin to the average blood sugar level in the past 3 months.
Follow the article below to discover HbA1c normal ranges and find out what is eAG and how we should interpret it.
We’ll also cover different methods used in A1c/estimated average glucose calculations and look at ready-made blood sugar conversion charts.
What Can I Learn From Converting My Hba1c To Average Blood Glucose Level
Converting your lab test HbA1c to average blood glucose level can be useful to compare your own average blood glucose results.
If, for example, your own average blood glucose results are lower than the average provided by the calculator, this suggests you may not be testing during periods of the day when your blood glucose levels are higher, which could include after meals.
You may therefore wish to carry out more blood glucose testing at different times of day to see if you are experiencing high results that you may not otherwise be aware of.
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What Are The Risks Of Chronic High Blood Glucose Level
Increase your physical activity. You dont have to train to be an Olympic athlete, but you should strive to include a few short walks in your daily routine. Every step is crucial!
- Attempt to reach and maintain a healthy BMI .
- The BMI is the most fundamental indicator, but you should also consider your waist-hip ratio. A large amount of visceral fat has been related to an increased risk of diabetes and heart disease.
- Maintain a healthy, well-balanced diet. If youre overweight, dont go over your daily calorie restriction, and attempt to eat even less. Say goodbye to processed meals and sweets.
- If you follow those recommendations, your hemoglobin A1C levels will almost certainly improve.
- A higher risk of cardiovascular disease, such as myocardial infarction or stroke.
- Theres a chance youll get chronic renal disease or perhaps kidney failure.
- Nerve injury and paresthesia are more likely.
- There is a high risk of retinopathy and vision loss.
- Infections, including as skin infections and mycoses, are common.
- Difficulties with conceiving,
- Diabetic foot, which could cause amputation!
They may diagnose you with diabetes if your A1C result is equal to or higher than 6.5 percent. If this is the case, make an appointment with your doctor away!
Is The A1c Test Accurate For Everyone
Since the A1C test has been made available , is has become a common way to measure glucose control. However, in the last several years some questions have been raised about potential limitations of A1C:
- Is the A1C accurate for everyone?
- It may not be accurate for some people, including people of African-American descent, people with liver and kidney disease, or with some anemias and sickle cell disease.
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Some Of The Ways Medicines Can Lower A1c Include:
- cause the liver to reduce its output of glucose
- adding insulin when the body is not producing a sufficient quantity
- reducing insulin resistance by making the body more sensitive to it’s own insulin
- cause the body to increase production of insulin
Keep in mind that illness or infection can also affect A1C. Be sure to make a note of any illnesses you may have had so you can offer your health care provider this information at your next visit.
How To Calculate Your A1c Levels
Do you feel overwhelmed by the jargon and measurements involved in controlling your blood sugar? It can be challenging to keep track of everything, especially if youâre already preoccupied with a diabetes diagnosis. Still, itâs worth carving out a little more space in your memory for something as important as A1C.
If youâve recently taken a blood test or if youâve been discussing or treating diabetes with your doctor, youâve likely heard about A1C. Only a lab test can accurately measure A1C, and itâs best if a medical professional analyzes it. The results help provide an approximate value for how much glucose has been in your bloodstream on average for the past 2-3 months. Managing A1C effectively will keep you out of your doctorâs office longer, prevent the onset of diabetes and help bring you back from the brink of a diagnosis. In this article, weâll fill you in on what exactly A1C is and how you can keep an eye on it yourself between blood tests.
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Conversion Of Fructosamine To Approximate Hba1c Level
The fructosamine assay is a measure of glycaemic control over a period of 2 to 3 weeks in diabetic patients. It is cheap and rapid. It measures the levels of glycosylated – with fructose groups – serum proteins. Interpretation of serum fructosamine level as with many lab values, the reference range is different from laboratory to laboratory, so all results must be interpreted within the context of the institution you are practicing in. As a guideline, each 75 umol change equals a change of approximately 60 mg/dl blood sugar or 2% HbA1c. Here is a rough conversion chart: Fructosamine HbA1C HbA1C 212.5 5.0 31 250 6.0 42 287.5 7.0 53 325 8.0 64 362.5 9.0 75 400 10.0 86 437.5 11.0 97 475 12.0 108 Reference: Guillausseau P-J, Charles M-A, Godard V, Timsit J, Chanson P, Paolaggi F et al. Comparison of fructosamine with glycated hemoglobin as an index of glycemic control in diabetic patients. Diabetes Research, 1990. 13:127-131.Continue reading > >
What Is Hb A1c Test
The HbA1c test, or the glycated haemoglobin A1c test, is a blood test that can be taken at any time as you dont need to fast before taking the test. It indicates what your average blood glucose levels are over the past 3 months, by measuring the percentage of blood glucose that has attached to haemoglobin. Haemoglobin is the oxygen carrying protein found in red blood cells.
It is normal for all people to have some glucose attached to haemoglobin. In people with diabetes, the higher the blood glucose levels are, the more glucose you have attached to haemoglobin. A HbA1c level of 6.5% or higher, on two separate tests, can indicate that you have diabetes. Whereas a HbA1c level between 5.7 and 6.4% can indicate prediabetes. Levels below 5.7% are considered normal. In other words, higher A1c percentages indicate an increased risk of diabetes.
The HbA1c test should not be used alone to diagnose diabetes. It should be used in combination with other blood glucose tests.
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Benefits Of Lowering Your A1c Test Result
Keeping your A1C test results low can significantly reduce the risk of long-term diabetes complications such as nerve problems, damage to your eyes, kidney disease and heart problems.3
1American Diabetes Association. Standards of medical care in diabetes2017 . Diabetes Care. 2017 40: S1-S135. Available at: . Accessed July 28, 2017.
2Nathan DM, Kuenen J, Borg R, Zheng H, Schoenfeld D, Heine RJ. Translating the A1C assay into estimated average glucose values. Diabetes Care. 2008 31: 1473-1478. Available at . Accessed July 28, 2017.
3American Diabetes Association. A1C and eAG. Available at: . Accessed July 28, 2017.
4Tylee TS, Trence DL. Glycemic variability: looking beyond the A1C. Diabetes Spectrum. 2012 24: 149-153. Available at . Accessed July 28, 2017.
What Is The Cost Benefit Of Lowering A1c
Recently the ADA published analysis diabetes costs. They showed total estimated costs of $327 billion with $237 billion on direct costs and $90 billion in indirect costs.5Economic costs of diabetes continues to rise.
Data from numerous studies show that better A1C results in lower total healthcare costs.6 A study using claims data from a large health maintenance organization showed that the group of mainly type 2 patients whose A1C was lowered by 1% experienced lower total health care costs in the range of $685 to $950 less per year compared to people who had no A1C improvement.
Another analysis from a large managed care organization showed that total diabetes-related costs for people whose A1C was greater than 7% was $1,540 per patient during the 1-year follow-up. This was 32% higher than the total diabetes-related costs for people whose A1C was at or below 7%.
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Setting Goals For A1c Levels
The target A1c level for people with diabetes is usually less than 7%. The higher the hemoglobin A1c, the higher your risk of having complications related to diabetes. Someone who has had untreated diabetes for a long time might have a level above 8%.
If you have diabetes and your level is above your target, your doctor may change your treatment plan to get your level down.
A combination of diet, exercise, and medication can bring your levels down.
People with diabetes should have an A1c test every 3 months to make sure their blood sugar is in their target range. If your diabetes is under good control, you may be able to wait longer between the blood tests. But experts recommend checking at least two times a year.
People with diseases affecting hemoglobin, such as anemia, may get misleading results with this test. Other things that can affect the results of the hemoglobin A1c include supplements such as vitamins C and E and high cholesterol levels. Kidney disease and liver disease may also affect the test.
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How Does Age Affect A1c
A1c is a measure of diabetes management, so your A1c wont naturally shift as you get older. However, as you age your diabetes management strategies and A1c goals may change for example, younger people may be more focused on reducing long-term health complications, while older people may concentrate on avoiding severe lows. Talk with your healthcare professional if youre curious about how your age may affect your A1c levels.
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How Does It Work
This test also relies on a protein called hemoglobin. Hemoglobin is a part of red blood cells that carries oxygen.
Glucose sticks to hemoglobin. So, the more glucose thats in your blood, the more it will stick to the hemoglobin.
The average lifespan of red blood cells is about 120 days . So, this test can measure the average blood glucose level during the previous 2 to 3 months with the modified hemoglobin.
A1c To Blood Glucose Conversion Chart
Published: by Charlotte This post may contain affiliate links
Use this A1c conversion chart to get your blood glucose value. See normal values and how to lower your A1C. Learn how to take charge of diabetes care by using diabetes resources and your health care professional’s advice.
This article updated with new images and resource links.
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When To Take A1c Test
If youre over 45 or under 45 and overweight, test your A1c conversion as a preventive measure. You should also think about it if you have any of the following diabetes risk factors:
- Diabetes in the family history .
- Low levels of physical exercise .
- Blood pressure that is too high.
- A high quantity of cholesterol in the blood
- Have you ever had gestational diabetes or given birth to a baby that weighed over 9 pounds?
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What A1c Goal Should I Have
People will have different A1C targets, depending on their diabetes history and their general health. You should discuss your A1C target with your health care professional. Studies have shown that some people with diabetes can reduce the risk of diabetes complications by keeping A1C levels below 7 percent.
Managing blood glucose early in the course of diabetes may provide benefits for many years to come. However, an A1C level that is safe for one person may not be safe for another. For example, keeping an A1C level below 7 percent may not be safe if it leads to problems with hypoglycemia, also called low blood glucose.
Less strict blood glucose control, or an A1C between 7 and 8 percentor even higher in some circumstancesmay be appropriate in people who have
- limited life expectancy
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A1c Levels Chart For Pregnancy
A reasonable A1C goal for many nonpregnant adults is ,7% .For type 1,2 preexisting diabetes , its safe to reduce A1C below 6.5% , to minimize the risk of congenital anomalies.Management of Diabetes during Pregnancy, Accelerated red blood cell turnover is the reason behind decreased A1C in normal pregnant women than in normal nonpregnant women.The A1C target level in pregnancy is 66.5% .Optimal A1c level during pregnancy:It is 6% if this can be achieved without significant hypoglycemia, but the doctors may target A1c 7% to prevent hypoglycemia in pregnancy. In the second and third trimesters:To hit the lowest risk of large-for-gestational-age infants doctors must target A1C 6% ,because studies shown that 6.5% is related to increased adverse outcomes.Blood sugar target levels during pregnancy:The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists as well as the ADA-recommended targets for women with type 1 or type 2 diabetes as follows:
- Fasting #95 mg/dL and either
- One-hour postprandial #140 mg/dL or
- Two-hour postprandial #120 mg/dL
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