Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c)

When checking your blood glucose at home on your glucometer, you are basically getting a "snapshot" picture of your blood sugar level at that specific moment. This is very important to understand how to manage your blood glucose levels. However, your blood sugar levels change a lot over the course of the day, so sometimes it's hard to determine if you're managing your diabetes correctly.

Hemoglobin A1c testing is one sure way to make sure that you're keeping your blood sugar levels under control. Unlike other glucose tests, diabetes HbA1c test has a memory. The great thing about hemoglobin A1c testing is that it averages your blood sugar levels for the past 2 - 3 months, giving you a more complete view of your overall health. The higher your average blood glucose level, the higher the HbA1c test. See the comparison chart below to see how hemoglobin A1c testing corresponds to average blood sugar levels:

HbA1c Reading	Average Blood Sugar Level	Your Blood Sugar Control
14%	360 mg/dL	Very poor control, take immediate action to lower
10%	240 mg/dL	Poor control, take action to lower
9%	210 mg/dL	Poor control, take action to lower
8%	180 mg/dL	Marginal control, take action to lower
7%	150 mg/dL	Good control
6%	120 mg/dL	Very good control

Anyone with diabetes should have the HbA1c test done every 6 months. If you inject insulin, you should have the test done every 3 months.