A blood test is a simple and effective way to determine the risk factor for many kinds of disease. Blood tests are able to reveal a plethora of disorders and diseases as most of them appear first in the blood and the way it behaves. Blood tests can be easily done at a hospital, clinic, a lab, or even at home conveniently.
A trained technician is able to draw blood and store it in vials that are safely taken to a lab to check for multiple things such as Hemoglobin, Glucose, infections, etc. Hba1c test is one of the main blood tests used to detect the blood sugar levels in the body via the blood. It is one of the reliable assessments to understand how a patient’s blood glucose level is performing over a span of time.
What is the Hba1c test?
Hba1c test is a type of blood test that helps in understanding the blood glucose level in the body for the last 2 to 3 months. It helps to determine the aggregate level of blood glucose level so that the doctor is able to get a bigger picture of how the patient is doing over a span of time and not just in the current week or day.
Why the Hba1c test is better than routine fasting and PP test because it considers and consolidates the markers that determine how the blood sugar levels are performing over the last 2 to 3 months. Routine blood tests can be misleading in the fact that they can be higher or lower based on any fluctuation in the diet or medicine or even lifestyle issues that the patient may have had in the past couple of days leading up to the blood test.
Factors such as heavy, sugar-rich foods, missing out on diabetes medicines, unusual stress, and fatigue can usually give out misleading test results. The Hba1c test is unlike the routine test as it is able to detect the sugar level surge in the body over the last few months and is able to give out more accurate and reliable results.
For patients who are diabetic, doctors recommend getting this test done every year to help understand if the current course of medication is suitable or if the treatment needs to be switched up. The Hba1c test is also used to detect if a person is likely to develop diabetes in the near future.
A range is premarked when a patient undergoes this test, meaning if the percentage is higher than the prescribed range, it means the patient is likely to be diabetic in the future. Therefore this test can help individuals by creating awareness and ensuring measures are taken well in advance. The Hba1c test price is cheap and affordable to all patients as well.
Marked Range for Hba1c Results
The Hba1c result is generated in the form of a percentage. Below is how the result of an Hba1c test is translated medically:
- Normal Range – 4% to 5.6% (This is normal and means that the person has no risk of diabetes).
- Prediabetic Range – 5.7% to 6.4% (This result means that there is a chance the person may develop diabetes soon in the future – the higher the percentage the higher the chance).
- Diabetes Range – 6.5% and above usually means that the person has diabetes. For patients undergoing treatment, the level is up to 8% above which is an uncontrolled blood sugar level.
Aaron Lewis is a digital marketing executive, a digital artist, blogger, and an avid author.