Clinicians use HbA1c to screen for, diagnose, and monitor diabetes or prediabetes. It reflects long-term glucose control and helps guide medicines, nutrition, and activity plans. It is also useful if you have risk factors or to check how your plan is working. You can test this marker with Aniva across Germany and Finland.

Clinicians use HbA1c to screen for, diagnose, and monitor diabetes or prediabetes. It reflects long-term glucose control and helps guide medicines, nutrition, and activity plans. It is also useful if you have risk factors or to check how your plan is working. You can test this marker with Aniva across Germany and Finland.

High: A higher A1c means your average blood sugar has been elevated, which can be consistent with prediabetes or diabetes and higher long-term risk. Consider repeat testing or pairing with a fasting plasma glucose to confirm, and discuss small, steady changes with your clinician.
Low: A lower A1c can reflect tight glucose control, but may also appear low if red blood cells turn over quickly, after blood loss or transfusion, or with some medicines. If the number doesn’t match your glucose readings, ask about checking fructosamine or re-testing in about three months.

• Fasting plasma glucose
• Oral glucose tolerance test
• Random plasma glucose
• Fructosamine
• Insulin
• Complete blood count

Common factors that can skew HbA1c include hemoglobin variants, iron deficiency or hemolytic anemia, recent blood loss or transfusion, pregnancy, advanced kidney or liver disease, and medicines that affect red blood cells (for example, erythropoietin, dapsone, or hydroxyurea). High-dose vitamin C or E, alcoholism, and some HIV therapies can also interfere with certain methods. Tell the lab if you have a known hemoglobin variant.

Special situations (when to confirm or adjust): after transfusion, during pregnancy, with significant anemia, or in advanced kidney disease—confirm with plasma glucose, an oral glucose tolerance test, or consider fructosamine/glycated albumin if advised.