Medical Health Encyclopedia

HbA1c

The closer your HbA1c value is to normal, the less risk you have for these complications.

Normally, only a small percentage of the hemoglobin (Hb) molecules in red blood cells become glycosylated (that is, chemically linked to glucose). The percent of glycosylation increases over time, and is higher if there is more glucose in your blood. Therefore, older red blood cells will have a greater percent of glycosylated hemoglobin, and diabetics whose blood glucose has been too high will have a greater percent of glycosylated hemoglobin.

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