A1CWhat’s YourNumber?

The Little KnownA1C Test Tells You

A Lot AboutStaying Healthy.

“I’ve neverheard of an

A1C test.What can

it do for me?”

“It can help you find outhow you have been

managing your diabetesevery 3-4 months.”

• Check your overall blood sugar average.

• Compare your results to your previous A1C tests.

• When your A1C number is high, talk to your doctoror diabetes educator about what changes you canmake to help lower your blood sugar.

• Set a target with your doctor or diabetes educatorand work toward it to feel better and reduce the riskof diabetes complications.

Check your averagelong-term bloodsugar level with

the A1C test.

Like most people, your blood sugarlevels go up and down minute tominute. How high is it now? Or at 3a.m.? You can’t test your blood sugarlevels constantly. So how can youknow if your blood sugar levels are inoverall control?

This booklet introduces you to a testthat provides a two to three-monthaverage of your blood sugar level.It’s called the glycosylated hemoglo-bin test (pronounced gli-ko-se-la-tidhe-ma-glo-bin), often referred to asthe A1C test.

Think of your A1C result like a bat-ting average. Sometimes Babe Ruthhit home runs. Sometimes he struckout. But his batting average let peo-ple know that he was a great hitter.In the same way, the A1C test can letyou know how you have done at con-trolling your diabetes during the pastfew months.

The A1C test measures the amount ofsugar that attaches to protein in thered blood cell. Because red bloodcells live for about three months, A1Ctests show your average blood sugarduring that time.

The greater the amount of sugar inyour blood, the higher your A1Cresults will be. High blood sugarsover a long period of time may causedamage to large and small blood ves-sels. This may increase your risk ofdiabetes complications.

Think ofit as yourblood sugarcontrol battingaverage.

Your bloodcells have a“memory”!

Red Blood Cell

Sugar

Normal A1C High A1C

Who benefitsfrom knowingtheir A1Cnumber?

Why isknowing yourA1C numberimportant?

How oftenshould youhave thistest?

How can youcompare theresults ofyour dailyblood sugartesting toyour A1C test?

All people with diabetes benefit fromknowing their A1C number. If yournumber is at near normal, you knowyou are managing your diabetes well.If your number is higher than normal,it will provide a starting point for youto work toward a lower number.

Research has found a direct linkbetween high blood sugar levels andthe complications of diabetes. Infact, reducing your blood sugar levelsto near normal can help reduce yourrisk of eye problems by up to 76%;nerve damage 60%; and severe kid-ney problems 56%.1, 3 An A1C testcan lead to better care, helping youreduce your risk of diabetes complica-tions.

You should have this test for the firsttime when you are diagnosed withdiabetes. From then on, people witheither insulin dependent (type 1) ornon-insulin-dependent (type 2) dia-betes should take this test three tofour times a year.2 Talk to your doc-tor or diabetes educator about sched-uling this test if it isn’t being done.

Here’s a chart you may use as a guide.In this example, the normal range isfrom 4% to 6%. Your lab may have adifferent normal range, so always askfor your lab’s normal range.

1 The New England Journal of Medicine. 1993; 13:977-986.2 As suggested by Staged Diabetes Management™ Program, developed by the

International Diabetes Center, 1995.3 UK Prospective Diabetes Study Group: Intensive blood glucose control withsulphonylureas or insulin compared with conventional treatment and risk ofcomplications in patients with type 2 diabetes (UKPDS 33) Lancet 352:837-852,1998

What’s yournumber?

You should talk to your doctor ordiabetes educator about A1C testing. You should make it a regularpart of your diabetes care. To helpyou keep track of your test results,use the back page of this booklet.

HOW TO COMPARE*

4% 65100135170205

240275310

345380

5%6%

7%8%

9%10%11%

12%13%

A1C BloodSugar

(mg/dL)

� � �

���

* American Diabetes Association: Clinical Practice Recommendations 2003.Standards of Medical Care “Correlation between A1C level and mean plasma glucose levels” Diabetes Care, Vol. 26. Supl p538.

Remember to always discuss your testresults with your doctor.

My A1C Test RecordName:The normal range for my lab is % to %.

Test Date Goal Results Next Test Date

% %

% %

% %

% %

% %

% %

BD Consumer Healthcare1 Becton DriveFranklin Lakes, New Jersey 07417-1883www.BDdiabetes.com

BD and BD Logo are trademarks of Becton, Dickinson and Company.© 2003 BD

BD wants you to know about the latestadvances in diabetes care. BD is working toimprove the quality of life for people withdiabetes.

For more information call us toll free at:1.888.BD CARES (232.2737)

NOT FOR MEDICAL OREMERGENCY INFORMATION

or visit our web site at:www.BDdiabetes.com

03A1C BRO#151198-3