Hemoglobin A1C measures average blood glucose over three months by tracking glucose attached to red blood cells, which live about that long. Unlike a single fasting glucose test, A1C shows your glucose control over time. Remember it as A1C3: the three-month window.
Lets walk through what the hemoglobin A1C is. So the hemoglobin A1C, you'll also hear it called just the A1C or the HbA1C. This measures the blood glucose level over the past three months. Now the way we can do this is we're actually testing the red blood cells and the sugar on the hemoglobin part of those red blood cells. And because red blood cells have a lifespan of around three months, that's why the HBA1C can go back and track the blood level for that three month period. So when you think hemoglobin A1C, think over the past three months. I like the rhyme. A1C3. So A1C3, we're doing a look back of the last three months of blood sugar levels. Now this is different than just a regular blood sugar check that we would do with a patient, something like a fasting blood glucose or a random blood glucose level. And those would check what the patient's blood glucose level is right then and there. But the HBA1C will show what the blood glucose level has been over the past three months. You can find all these med surg flashcards inside the nursing SOS shop.
