Diabetes is a difficult disease that doesn't only deal with the pancreas, but with the entire body. Patients deal with vision difficulties, circulation issues, and nerve pain. How they treat their diabetes can be a big determining factor in what their medical future holds. There are those that can hide their blood glucose swings by not testing when they should or not keeping good logbooks. However, there is one test that can be done that gives the doctor a clear view of how bad the patient's diabetes is and how well controlled the patient keeps it. This test is called the A1C test.
The A1C test measures how much glucose has been sticking to your body's red blood cells. The red blood cells are replaced every three or so months, so this test will tell you how much glucose stuck to your cells in that three to four month period. Keeping your blood glucose levels near normal (70-140ml) the majority of the time will show up as a normal A1C number (6%-7%). However, if you have many readings that are higher, the A1C number will be above 7%, too many readings under the normal will result in an A1C number below 6%.
Getting an A1C test every 3-4 months is a good way to see how well your goals and attempts at evening out your blood glucose numbers have been. Tracking this number can help your doctor see the overall picture and can help in the tweaking of diet, exercise, and medications. If you generally have near normal A1C numbers this testing can be done every 6 months instead of quarterly, as the regime that you and your doctor have in place seems to be working. When it falters from the norm, then closer testing schedules will be put in place.