By Mayo Clinic staff
The A1C test is a common blood test used to diagnose type 1 and type 2 diabetes and then to gauge how well you're managing your diabetes. The A1C test goes by many other names, including glycated hemoglobin, glycosylated hemoglobin, hemoglobin A1C and HbA1c.
The A1C test result reflects your average blood sugar level for the past two to three months. Specifically, the A1C test measures what percentage of your hemoglobin — a protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen — is coated with sugar (glycated). The higher your A1C level, the poorer your blood sugar control. And if you have previously diagnosed diabetes, the higher the A1C level, the higher your risk of diabetes complications.
Lynlee, that was a good question because I didn't know all of this myself. Could be that the abbreviation is used in US and not elsewhere, for instance. It is my understanding that the better one's diet (as regards blood sugar) during the previous few months, the lower the test number will be, and the most recent days will "count" more in the result than the longer-ago ones.
Here is a good article about what level we should shoot for, what is "normal" anyway, who is trying for unreachable goals, that sort of thing. Interesting conclusions reached after intense research.