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Your A1C Test

The A1C test (also known as HbA1C or glycated hemoglobin) provides a long-term look at blood sugar control and can show you how well your plan is working.

The A1C test is not, however, a substitute for frequent self-monitoring. It's still necessary to know how meals, activity, medications and stress affect your blood sugar over the course of a day or week. The A1C won't show that. In fact, frequent highs and lows can average out to a healthy-looking A1C result3 — you need your self-checks to fill in the details.

The American Diabetes Associations recommends an A1C test every three months. For people who are under good control and are not changing their therapy, an A1C test every six months may be acceptable.1 Your doctor will help you decide what's right for you.
 
A1C Calculator
How does your average blood sugar equate to an A1C?
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A1C Calculator

See how an A1C result correlates to average daily blood sugar.2 Enter your average blood sugar reading* or your latest A1C result and click Calculate.

Average Blood Sugar*

(from 100-345 mg/dl)

  
Calculate
 

A1C

(from 5.0 - 12.0%)

Congratulations! Your A1C result falls within the normal range — even for people who don't have diabetes.1 Is it possible that blood sugar lows are contributing to this low result?3 Think about it and discuss possible action steps with your doctor.

Congratulations! This is an excellent A1C result. It means that your blood sugar is well controlled,4 unless frequent blood sugar lows are contributing to the result.3 If it's possible that you're experiencing lows, talk to your doctor right away.

Keep up the good work — you're very close to target! Talk to your doctor, dietitian or diabetes educator about how steps like increasing physical activity, refining your meal plan, and frequent self-monitoring can get you down below 7%.4

Studies show that an A1C result above 7% carries an increased risk of long-term complications.5 Start lowering your blood sugar, and you'll reduce your risk of vision loss, nerve damage, heart disease and more. Find out how to lower your A1C. Talk to your doctor right away.

Please use a number between 100 and 345.

Please use a number between 5 and 12.

*This tool uses average plasma blood sugar readings — the measure used by most meters available today. It should not be used to predict an A1C and is not a substitute for a clinical test performed by your doctor. It is intended to show the relationship between a healthy A1C and self-monitoring results, and give you an idea of how you can help prevent long-term diabetes complications.

1 American Diabetes Association. "A1C Test." Available at: http://www.diabetes.org/type-1-diabetes/a1c-test.jsp. Accessed January 11, 2006.
2 Rohlfing, CL et. al. "Defining the Relationship Between Plasma Glucose and HbA1c." Diabetes Care, Vol 25, 2002. Available at http://care.diabetesjournals.org/cgi/content/full/25/2/275 Accessed March 14, 2008.
3 Medscape Today. "How Should Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) Results Be Interpreted in Your Patients with Diabetes?" Available at: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/413375. Accessed March 14, 2008.
4 American Diabetes Association. "Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes -- 2007." Diabetes Care, Vol 30, Supp 1, Jan 2007.
5 UK Prospective Diabetes Study. Available at http://www.dtu.ox.ac.uk/index.php. Accessed March 14, 2008.


Last modified: October 08, 2008