What is a Glycosylated Haemoglobin Test? Know Everything about the Test

A glycosylated haemoglobin test measures the present amount of glycosylated hemoglobin in your blood. It can also be termed as a test that tells about the level of glucose in a person’s blood and is alternatively called the A1c test or the HbA1c test.

To understand more about what glycosylated hemoglobin is and what its test does, let us delve further into this article. The following headers shall properly address the required definitions and details about the test.

Table of Contents

What exactly is meant by Glycosylated Hemoglobin?

Glycosylated Haemoglobin pertains to the blood cells that have glucose glycated or attached to them. These blood cells are determinants of the sugar that is present in the bloodstream as a whole.

The amount of glycosylated hemoglobin can affect the health of an individual. Those with an abnormal amount of glycosylated hemoglobin present in their blood run the risk of or already do suffer from diabetes.

What does a Glycosylated Haemoglobin test mean?

The glycosylated haemoglobin test measures the glucose content in the patient’s blood. It signifies how the sugar levels of diabetes patients have performed over the last few months. This test can effectively prove useful in the following things-

Pre-diabetic detection identifies the risk of diabetes and heart diseases much earlier in a given person.
Diagnosis of diabetes itself catches symptoms of already present diabetes in a person.
The diabetic progression gives updates about how well a person has maintained their blood sugar levels in the past months and; overall how the status of the diabetic person has been.
Treatment incentive that paves the path for further precaution and treatment if need be.

When and why is this test needed?

In the case of patients suffering from diabetes, it is highly recommended that they take this test to check on their glycosylated hemoglobin levels about two to four times a year. This will help them have a better grasp of the progress that they have been making in countering the disease.

As for those who have not been diagnosed with diabetes but are displaying potential symptoms of diabetes like blurry vision, increasing urination, too much thirst, and tiredness, they are also recommended to take the glycosylated haemoglobin test to identify the disease beforehand and begin to work towards countering it.

Additionally, people who are obese, have a family history of diabetes or heart disease, are old, and do not lead an active lifestyle are also prone to getting diabetes, hence the Glycosylated Haemoglobin test is important for them as well.

Since the test can act as a precautionary for the patients, it prevents the disease from growing further if the person has gotten control over how they maintain their blood sugar levels. It can save them from developing a stronger and more harmful version of diabetes which will affect the quality of their lives drastically.

What are the probable outcomes of this test?

The following data presents the probable outcomes of the glycosylated haemoglobin test:

HbA1c Test Score

excellent: 4 to 6
good: 7 to 8
poor: 9 to 14

Mean Blood mg/dL

excellent: 50 to 115
good:150 to 180
poor: 215 to 380

Glucose mmol/L

excellent: 2.6 to 6.3
good: 8.2 to 10.0
poor: 11.9 to 21.1

Given here, mg/ dL is milligrams per decilitre and mmol/ L is millimoles per litre.

How is this test executed?

Glucose present in the blood glycates or sticks to the blood for about three months at most. The Glycosylated haemoglobin test reaches a consensus on the average amount of glucose that has glycated in the blood over some time.

Those who are going to give this test do not require fasting before it. There are two ways in which a glycosylated haemoglobin test works-

Some healthcare centres check for your glycosylated haemoglobin through an A1c machine that requires a drop of blood and generates a result in a few minutes.
Other centres conduct the test as lab-based ones. The test takes a few minutes and the results are generated in a few days.

Results of the Glycosylated Haemoglobin test are mostly correct and accurate.

Conclusion

The human body requires a certain amount of glucose derived from carbohydrates to sustain itself. However, too much glucose in the blood can cause ailments like diabetes. Glucose usually sticks to blood cells and an abnormality in the amount of time it stays glycated determines whether a person has diabetes or not.

A glycosylated haemoglobin test accurately determines a patient’s blood sugar levels and is important for diagnosis as well as for keeping track of progress. Diabetic patients and those with potential diabetic symptoms must realize how important this test is; it can give them the incentive to take better care of themselves and in countering this disease.