Understanding and Managing HbA1c

The HbA1c counts the number of red blood cells that are attached to glucose. The results are measured as mmol/mol, which is different to your blood glucose test results that measures the amount of glucose freely circulating in the blood – and uses a different unit of measure, mmol/L.

Unlike Blood Glucose levels that you do daily with a glucose meter, HbA1c tests need to be done by a health care professional. These are usually done every three months.

HbA1c levels give doctors and those living with diabetes valuable information. HbA1c levels do not fluctuate quickly because once the red blood cells are attached to glucose; they remain that way until they die (up to 3 months). For this reason HbA1c levels give a picture of blood glucose control over a long period of time. HbA1c is the only proven indicator of a person’s risk of developing complications of diabetes.

HbA1c and Blood Glucose Levels give us two different sets of information. HbA1c provides information about the long-term glucose control to help with overall management of your diabetes. But it does not give us ‘real-time’ feedback. Blood Glucose levels gives information about the ’now’ – what is happening this very minute. It helps to identify the impact that diet, exercise, medication, stress and illness, for example, have on blood glucose levels. That means you can detect immediately any instances of hyperglycaemia or hypoglycaemia. This allows immediate changes to treatment such as insulin, food intake and activity levels.