HbA1c

Hb_A1c is shorthand for glycated hemoglobinA1c, a surrogate marker for blood glucoselevels. The normal range is 4% to 5.9%.[1]

People with diabetes mellitusoften have higher levels of Hb_A1c. A diabetic with good glucose control has a Hb_A1c level that is close to or within the reference range. A very high Hb_A1c represents poor glucose control.

The Hb_A1c level is proportional to average blood glucose concentration over the previous four weeks to three months (some researches state that the major proportion of its value is related to a rather short term period of two to four weeks [2]).

The mapping between Hb_A1c and blood glucose average is shown in the table below.

Endocrinologists currently believe that Hb_A1c values below 6.5% (American College of Endocrinology: The AACE System of Intensive Diabetes Self-Management — 2002 Update) are acceptable and indicate good control; normal is 3-6%. Interpreting results is somewhat difficult because (1) laboratory results can differ depending on the analytical technique and (2) biological variation between individuals can be up to 1% (i.e. two individuals with the same average blood sugar can have A1C values that differ by up to 1%).

References

• Hemoglobin A1c Test
• The Glycated Hemoglobin Test
• MDRTC Hemoglobin A1C Fact Sheet

See also

• Diabetes mellitus
• Hemoglobin

nn:Hemoglobin A1c

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HbA1c Wikipedia article HbA1c.