PEOPLE with diabetes or concerns about their blood glucose levels will be familiar with the need for regular testing. But the HbA1c test differs from a blood glucose test, which can be useful to help you understand how levels in your blood stream fluctuate during the day and how your diet affects this. Instead, HbA1c is your average blood glucose (sugar) levels for the last two to three months. It measures glycated haemoglobin. This is something made when the glucose in your body sticks to your red blood cells. Your body can’t use the sugar properly, so more of it sticks to your blood cells and builds up. Red blood cells are active for around two to three months, which is why the reading is ideally taken quarterly. If you have diabetes, an ideal level is 6.5 per cent or below – and less than six per cent if you are at risk, says Diabetes UK. A high HbA1c means you have too much sugar in your blood, meaning you are more likely to develop diabetes complications, such as serious problems with your eyes and feet. Improving HbA1c levels over time by as little as one per cent can cut the risk of these microvascular complications by 25 per cent. This means type 2 diabetics are less likely to suffer from cataracts or heart failure and 43 per cent less likely suffer amputations associated to peripheral vascular disease. And should your HbA1c levels have gone up, there is action that you can take, such having your medication reviewed by your healthcare team, eating a balanced, healthy diet, becoming more active and stopping smoking. An HbA1c test Is also used to diagnose diabetes, and to keep an eye on your levels if you are at risk of the condition (prediabetes). The test is sometimes called haemoglobin A1c or just A1c. Kits are available which you can use yourself. These aren’t available on prescription.
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