What is HbA₁c?

HbA₁c is like a report card for how well your body has been handling sugar over time.

Imagine you have a piggy bank where you save coins every day, some days you add a few, other days more, depending on what happens. HbA₁c is like looking at the total amount of coins in that piggy bank after a whole year. The more sugar your body deals with, especially if it's too much or not balanced well, the more coins (or HbA₁c) you’ll have.

Your blood has little helpers called red blood cells, think of them as tiny workers who carry oxygen all around your body. When there’s extra sugar in the blood, some of it sticks to these red blood cells. Over time, this creates a kind of "sugar tag" on the cell.

Since red blood cells live for about 3 months, HbA₁c shows an average of your blood sugar levels over that whole period, like checking your piggy bank every three months instead of daily. This helps doctors see if your body has been managing sugar well or needs a little more help.