The Hemoglobin Blood Test for Diabetes
For diabetics, it’s important to keep track of their blood sugar level. If their blood sugar levels remain high for too long, they can develop complications such as blindness, liver damage and heart problems. The hemoglobin blood test, also known as the hemoglobin a1c blood test, is an important tool for maintaining normal blood levels.
How the Hemoglobin Blood Test Differs from Daily Blood Tests
Taking daily blood tests is like taking photographs with a camera. Each test gives you a snapshot of your blood level at the time you took the test. What the test can’t tell you, though, is that your blood sugar is actually higher than that one test result shows. The hemoglobin blood test, on the other hand, is like taking a photo using a wide-angle lens. It tells you your blood level over a range of time — the previous 120 days.
How the Hemoglobin Blood Test Works
Hemoglobin is a protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen from your lungs to the cells in the rest of your body. Red blood cells have a lifespan of around 120 days. A1c is a sub-component of hemoglobin. While the red blood cells are circulating in your system, sugar attaches itself to the a1c. During the course of 120 days, old blood cells die and new ones replace them. The a1c in the older bloods cells that are still circulating reflects earlier blood sugar levels, and the and the a1c in the newer blood cells reflects more recent blood sugar levels. The hemoglobin blood test shows your average blood sugar level of all the a1c in both old and new cells over the last 120 days.
How to Interpret the Results of the Hemoglobin Blood Test
Different laboratories do the hemoglobin a1c blood test differently and thus, return slightly different results. So it’s important that your doctor use the same lab consistently. If you change physicians, check to see if your new doctor uses the same lab. If not, you can expect somewhat different results for your hemoglobin blood test.
Generally, though, most labs interpret a 6 percent or less as normal blood sugar level for non-diabetics. For diabetics, the results of the hemoglobin blood test should be 7 percent or less.
How and When to Take the Hemoglobin Blood Test
Usually, you take the hemoglobin blood test at the doctor’s office. The lab technician draws blood from your finger or arm and sends the sample to a lab, which sends back the results. Currently, home kits for the hemoglobin a1c blood test are available.
When you’re first diagnosed as diabetic, the doctor has you take a hemoglobin blood test to establish a benchmark. After that, you should have a test twice a year. At certain times, though, you should take the a1c blood test more often. Those times could include:
- When you want to confirm a hemoglobin blood self-test you took
- When your doctor wants to confirm blood tests he or she took
- When you want to see if your current or new meal plans, medications or exercise routines are working properly
Tags: blood tests, diabetes blood tests, hemoglobin a1c blood test, hemoglobin blood test, normal blood levels
