-
Guest, the forum is undergoing some upgrades and so the usual themes will be unavailable for a few days. In the meantime, you can use the forum like normal. We'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »
Just tested my A1c and i would like to know if its good
- Thread starter FuryG
- Start Date
miahara
Well-Known Member
Hi @FuryG , I think you've tested your blood glucose as opposed to Ha1c or HbA1c as it is more commonly known in the UK.
If you've just taken a one-off reading of blood glucose it's not too bad, but very much depends on when it was taken and what you'd recently eaten. The guidelines in the UK suggest that before a meal BG should be 4 to 7 mmol/mol and after a meal under 8.5.
I'm T2D so really can't offer much guidance regarding BG levels for T1s but I'm sure someone else will.
Here's a link that explains what HbA1c measures.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/what-is-hba1c.html
If you've just taken a one-off reading of blood glucose it's not too bad, but very much depends on when it was taken and what you'd recently eaten. The guidelines in the UK suggest that before a meal BG should be 4 to 7 mmol/mol and after a meal under 8.5.
I'm T2D so really can't offer much guidance regarding BG levels for T1s but I'm sure someone else will.
Here's a link that explains what HbA1c measures.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/what-is-hba1c.html
TheBigNewt
Well-Known Member
I think he meant that his A1C is 7.3%, which is pretty good considering he said his control had been "pretty messy" up until a year ago. IMO an A1C of less than 8 is quite acceptable for most diabetics, either Type 1 or Type 2.
miahara
Well-Known Member
Yes, quite possibly. There are so many different standards employed to measure BG/A1C.
7.3% looks pretty good. I expected someone would come up with a more helpful reply than me. Thanks @TheBigNewt !
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/what-is-hba1c.html
Kristin251
Expert
7.3 in the US is 163. Too high for me but sure could be worse.
TheBigNewt
Well-Known Member
No 7.3% A1C is more like 55 in the UK not 163.
D
Deleted member 308541
Guest
According to the calculator in my Diabetes Journal app, it gives 7.3% as 56.28 mmol/mol. I do not know how accurate it is, but converting some of my old figures it seems to round up to the next number.
Edit: Typo I need a new mouse.
Last edited by a moderator:
Kristin251
Expert
Um... I said US not UK big difference. Do we know where the op is from????
D
Deleted member 308541
Guest
No, the OP has not got it where they live in their profile, I was just using the same numbers as I get from my hba1c test results.
catapillar
Well-Known Member
A DCCT hba1c of 7.3% translates to an average blood sugar of 9mmol/l (or 163mg/dL) over the last 3 months.
A DCCT hba1c of 7.3% also translates to a IFCC hba1c of 56.3mmol/mol.
Right, so that's all the confusion over what a 7.3% hba1c can be converted into dealt with. But @FuryG was actually asking: "is it good or bad?"
Personally, I'm not sure it's helpful to think of a hba1c result as good or bad while you are struggling to deal with "messy" control. It just is what it is.
The target for type 1 is to have a hba1c under 6.5%. But this target might be higher for individuals if they have problems with hypos or if they have been higher for a while, to avoid a sudden dramatic drop.
So 7.3% is slightly over target, but not a million miles away and nothing to be thought of as a bad result. It definitely shows that your work on improving your control is having benefits, well done for making that effort.
A DCCT hba1c of 7.3% also translates to a IFCC hba1c of 56.3mmol/mol.
Right, so that's all the confusion over what a 7.3% hba1c can be converted into dealt with. But @FuryG was actually asking: "is it good or bad?"
Personally, I'm not sure it's helpful to think of a hba1c result as good or bad while you are struggling to deal with "messy" control. It just is what it is.
The target for type 1 is to have a hba1c under 6.5%. But this target might be higher for individuals if they have problems with hypos or if they have been higher for a while, to avoid a sudden dramatic drop.
So 7.3% is slightly over target, but not a million miles away and nothing to be thought of as a bad result. It definitely shows that your work on improving your control is having benefits, well done for making that effort.
