The A1C or Hemoglobin A1C take a look at is one thing everybody residing with diabetes needs to be aware of.
It doesnβt present the entire image of your diabetes administration, however it may be an excellent indicator of whether or not your common blood sugar ranges are inside a wholesome vary.
Right this moment, Iβll present you tips on how to simply and precisely measure your A1C at residence.
Weβll additionally focus on what an A1C take a look at really tells you, why itβs a related take a look at, and tips on how to interpret the outcomes.
Desk of Contents
What’s an A1C take a look at
The A1C take a look at is a blood take a look at that displays your common blood glucose during the last 3 months. It’s reported as a proportion and individuals who donβt dwell with diabetes typically have an A1C beneath 5.7%.
That signifies that an A1C take a look at generally is a good start line for a diabetes prognosis in addition to an indicator of whether or not your diabetes administration strategy is profitable.
The American Diabetes Affiliation has established the next A1C tips for utilizing the take a look at as a part of a diabetes prognosis:
A1C targets for folks residing with diabetes needs to be tailor-made to the person, however typically, an A1C of seven% or decrease is really helpful. An A1C of seven% interprets to a median blood sugar of round 154 mg/dl (8.6 mmol/L).
Some folks residing with diabetes attempt for A1C ranges beneath 5.7%, however aiming for a really low A1C isn’t all the time advisable, particularly if itβs achieved by an extreme quantity of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar).
Focus on your goal A1C together with your physician and keep in mind that it might probably all the time be adjusted up or down relying on whatβs applicable for you.
Why is it vital to measure your A1C
Since elevated blood sugars can result in quite a few short- and long-term issues, itβs advisable to control your A1C and be sure that itβs held at a wholesome stage.
Should you discover that your blood sugars (and thereby your A1C) are rising above your goal, there are a number of issues you are able to do to scale back them, akin to discussing adjusting your remedy together with your physician, altering your eating regimen, and making way of life modifications
You may learn our full information to decreasing your A1C for extra info.
Because the A1C checks provide you with an image of your blood sugar stage for the final 3 months, it is smart to have your A1C measured no less than each 3 months to maintain monitor of how your blood sugars are progressing.
It the take a look at is used for a diabetes prognosis, you may need to even have your fasting blood sugar and antibody ranges measured to find out which sort of diabetes you reside with, akin to sort 1 or sort 2 diabetes.
How one can use the A1C residence take a look at equipment
There may be many causes to measure your A1C at residence, akin to restricted entry to see your physician, the gap to a lab, the price of the lab work, and many others.
There are nice choices for measuring your A1C at residence, however please seek the advice of together with your medical staff earlier than making any modifications to your care or self-diagnosing diabetes.
One very reasonably priced A1C residence take a look at equipment is the A1CNow SelfCheck which I exhibit tips on how to use within the video beneath.
The equipment comes with 4 A1C checks and gives you your A1C end in solely 5 minutes. Comply with the directions that include the equipment and ensure so as to add sufficient blood or it can return an error message.
Are residence A1C take a look at kits correct?
Most residence A1C kits are thought of to be as correct as lab A1C checks. The outcomes are correct inside plus/minus 0.5 proportion factors, which is about the identical as most lab outcomes.
To make sure accuracy, search for merchandise which might be NGSP-certified (Nationwide Glycohemoglobin Standardization Program) and/or have FDA clearance or CE mark. All of the merchandise talked about on this article are NGSP-certified.
After I tried the A1CNow SelfCheck at residence (see the video above), the A1C outcomes got here again with precisely the identical end result because the A1C lab take a look at I had accomplished just a few days earlier (I used Quest Diagnostics for the lab take a look at).
How a lot does an A1C take a look at equipment value?
The A1CNow SelfCheck I used within the video is $53.83 on Amazon (as of September 2020) for 4 checks. I selected this equipment because it was the most affordable answer, however related residence A1C kits may be discovered on Amazon starting from $60-$100 for 4 checks.
You can too discover residence A1C kits in most pharmacies akin to CVS and Walmart.
A1C kits that require you to gather a blood pattern at residence and ship it to a lab are additionally out there.
These checks require a considerably bigger blood assortment (4-5 massive droplets) and you’ll find yourself ready as much as 4 weeks (like I did once I tried it out) in your take a look at outcomes, relying on how briskly the mail will get to the lab and again to you. Β
Is it coated by insurance coverage?
Whereas most well being insurances (personal and authorities plans) cowl blood work prescribed by your physician and carried out in a lab, itβs uncertain that your insurance coverage will cowl an at-home A1C take a look at until itβs a prescribed equipment.
Nonetheless, you’ll be able to all the time name your insurance coverage firm or search for your advantages and discover out in case your plans cowl at-home kits. If it does, your insurance coverage firm might have a most well-liked model or particular course of so that you can get your equipment.
