Studies have demonstrated that lowering A1C significantly reduces the risk of these complications. For people with diabetes, too much glucose in the blood can lead to heart disease, kidney disease ( nephropathy), vision loss ( retinopathy), and nerve damage ( neuropathy). A1C is the most widely accepted, standardized estimate of blood sugar over the previous two to three months. Healthcare professionals typically use A1C as an indicator of glucose management, and high A1C values are associated with an increased risk of diabetes-related complications. When people have a high A1C, it means that the principal protein in their red blood cells (called hemoglobin) has more sugar attached to it. Thus, while A1C is a valuable tool for standardized, long-term diabetes care, other metrics used to assess diabetes health, like Time in Range, can provide helpful supplementary information to A1C alone.Ī person’s A1C is a measure of their average blood sugar level over the previous two to three months.
Studies have shown that A1C measurements are less accurate for people of African, Mediterranean, or Southeast Asian descent. However, many factors can influence A1C, including a person’s race, ethnicity, and hemoglobin status. Even for people who do not have diabetes, A1C can help determine if someone has prediabetes and their risk for developing diabetes. Healthcare professionals often rely on A1C measurements to assess a person’s diabetes management and risk for health complications.
In addition, because A1C does not provide any specific information about glucose variability or hypoglycemia, it is important to consider using other personalized metrics to better assess diabetes care. A1C values are also influenced by differences in survival rates of red blood cells and how sugar attaches to them. This is because someone’s A1C value could potentially reflect more than just their average glucose level. By Marie Tetsu, Julia Kenney, and Matthew GarzaĪverage A1C values differ between racial and ethnic groups – people of color have a higher average A1C compared to white people.
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