What is HbA1c? Read about it- still don't understand.?!
Question: Red cells live for 8 -12 weeks before they are replaced. By measuring the HbA1C it can tell you how high your blood glucose has been on average over the last 8-12 weeks. A normal non-diabetic HbA1C is 3.5-5.5%. In diabetes about 6.5% is good.
The HbA1C test is currently one of the best ways to check diabetes is under control; it is the blood test that gets sent to the laboratory, and it is done on the spot in some hospital clinics. Remember, the HbA1C is not the same as the glucose level.
Answers: Red cells live for 8 -12 weeks before they are replaced. By measuring the HbA1C it can tell you how high your blood glucose has been on average over the last 8-12 weeks. A normal non-diabetic HbA1C is 3.5-5.5%. In diabetes about 6.5% is good.
The HbA1C test is currently one of the best ways to check diabetes is under control; it is the blood test that gets sent to the laboratory, and it is done on the spot in some hospital clinics. Remember, the HbA1C is not the same as the glucose level.
As against the a blood glucose level at one time, HbA1c tells hoe is is your blood glucose on average of about 30 days.
I have left the technical detail out, so U don`t get further confused.
HbA1c measures the percentage of glucose sticking to the red blood cells circulating in the blood stream. The red blood cells last for about 3 months circulating in the blood stream before disintegrating. So this is a measure of the glucose sticking to the red blood cells during the last 3 months.
Yeah, it is a bit confusing, but this is just a way to measure how much glucose is NOT being used to fuel the muscles of the bod.
Hope this clears some of your confusion.