Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c)

Overview:

When glucose circulates in the blood, some of it attaches to hemoglobin inside red blood cells and stays attached for the life of the cell. Since red cells live around three months, the proportion of hemoglobin carrying glucose reflects average blood sugar across that period rather than at a single moment, and no fasting is required. HbA1c is used both to diagnose diabetes and prediabetes and to monitor control over time. Conditions that change red cell lifespan, including some anemias and hemoglobin variants, can make the result unreliable, and an alternative such as fructosamine may be used instead.

Categories:

Metabolic, Diabetes

Biomarkers:

1 biomarker