For decades, the diabetes care community has been obsessed with three little characters: A-1-C. A1C, which is short for hemoglobin A1C, is a blood test that reflects a person’s average glucose level for the past eight to 12 weeks. Ever since the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT) showed a relationship between A1C and the development of long-term diabetes complications, most research and clinical efforts have focused on A1C reduction. Unfortunately, the A1C has some serious limitations.
For one thing, many health conditions and blood abnormalities, such as anemia and iron deficiency, influence the accuracy of the A1C. Additionally, obtaining an A1C isn’t the easiest thing to do: Measurement usually requires a blood draw at a lab (with several days’ wait time for the result) or a visit to a diabetes clinic that has special equipment for performing point-of-care A1C testing. But more importantly, A1C is not always a good reflection of the quality of glucose control. Those with frequent high and low glucose levels might have a decent A1C
