Once you are diagnosed with diabetes, your life undergoes some pretty drastic changes.
You have to get used to insulin injections (or daily pills) to keep your blood sugar under control.
You will most likely need to change your diet to avoid high carbohydrate and sugary foods.
You will also have to learn how to count carbohydrates and plan healthier meals.
Your doctor expects you to do all of these things and he or she has ways of checking up on you.
The A1c test, also called the Hemoglobin A1c test, is the test that your doctor uses to grade you on how well you've been managing your blood sugar.
This test measures how much glucose has permanently bonded to the hemoglobin in your red blood cells.
If your blood sugar has been high over a period of time, then the hemoglobin in your blood will most likely have glucose permanently bonded to it.
Red blood cells live in our bodies for about three months, so most doctors look at your A1c as the number that reflects your average blood sugar reading for the past 3 months.
A normal A1c in a person without diabetes ranges from 4% to 5%.
This is the range that doctors would like you to be in because it means the little to no complications from diabetes.
However, it takes a lot of discipline and daily management to get your A1c to this level, though it can be done.
A good A1c means that you will need to change your diet and incorporate exercise into your daily routine.
Foods that are high in carbohydrates and sugar should be avoided because they lead to blood sugar spikes as well as long periods of time with a high blood sugar reading.
This means that glucose is becoming glycated (binded) to your hemoglobin, which leads to higher A1c readings.