by Diane Walsh

Created on: August 16, 2010

Help for Diabetic to Understand A1C

            Let’s try to understand an elevated A1C.  A1C gives a picture of the average amount of glucose in the blood over the previous few months. How can the first test give you an average?  What does it have for a reference point? 

            A1C measures the glucose, or sugar, that is attached to hemoglobin. Hemoglobin is a protein found in red blood cells.  This protein forms a compound when it sticks with the red blood cells.  Once the compound is formed, it does not break down.  It travels in the blood stream for around 120 days. 

            Another chemical called insulin is excreted by the pancreas.  The glucose and the insulin combine and enter the cells in muscles and the brain.

             The glucose and the insulin combination sticks together for the life span of the red blood cell.  A red blood cell’s life span averages 120 days.  It is this blood that is used to measure the A1C.  So the A1C is an index of the blood sugar for about 120 days or 3 to 4 months. 

            The blood glucose for the preceding 30 days counts more to the level of the A1C than the first 90 days. The normal level of people without diabetes is 4% to 6%.  According to the American Diabetes Association, the goal of all diabetics is to keep their blood glucose levels as close to normal as possible.  The closer a diabetic can keep their A1C to 7% without becoming hypoglycemic the better. 

             Everything we eat turns into sugar or glucose at some point. Glucose is absorbed into the bloodstream and carried to the body’s cells. If a person takes in more glucose than the body needs at the time, the body stores the extra glucose in the liver and muscles in a form called glycogen. 

              The body can use glycogen for energy between meals.  When blood glucose begins to fall, the liver starts to breakdown glycogen and releases glucose into the bloodstream. This keeps the blood sugar level on an even level.  In a

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