Unfortunately, the A1c test often gives a misleading result. The calculator you will find HERE uses the formula doctors rely on to show you what average blood sugar is supposed to be connected with your A1c. The Calculator that Shows How Estimated Average Glucose is Supposed to Map to A1c This percentage reports what percent of your red blood cells have glucose bonded to them.Ī truly normal A1c is between 4.6% and 5.4%ĭoctors like the A1c test because it is fast and because they believe it tells them how your blood sugar has been acting over a period of several months. From this it estimates how much glucose those red blood cells have been exposed to over the past several months. Instead, what it measures is how much glucose has become permanently bonded to your red blood cells. Unlike the previous blood sugar measurements, the A1c test does not actually measure of how much glucose is in your blood. You can learn about the studies that established these values HERE Pregnant women with diabetes should strive for these blood sugars: At those levels unconsciousness and brain damage can occur.īecause the blood volume increases greatly during pregnancy, diluting blood sugar, normal blood sugar concentrations for pregnant women are lower than those for everyone else.īased on current research, normal pregnant women's blood sugar falls into this range: The dangerous levels of low blood sugar-the hypos that may require a visit to the ER-are those around 40 mg/dl (2.2 mmol/L) and lower. So if you don't treat a reading near 70 mg/dl, it may go on to drop to a dangerously low level. Even more importantly, the insulin or oral drug that has lowered your blood sugar to this level may still be working to lower your blood sugar even more. This is because home meters may also read higher than your actual blood sugar so your 70 mg/dl reading may actually be 62 mg/dl. However, if you are using insulin or a drug that causes your body to secrete insulin you must err on the side of caution and keep your blood sugar well over 70 mg/dl (3.9 mmol/L). This is because home blood sugar meters often read lower than lab values, so a reading in that very slightly lower range might actually be normal. If you are not on insulin or a drug that causes your pancreas to secrete insulin, a blood sugar 5 to 10 mg/dl slightly below this range, while it might be uncomfortable,is not dangerous unless there is evidence that it is continuing to drop. This is demonstrated by the graph at the top of this page, which shows the blood sugars measured during a study where normal people had their blood sugar sampled every few minutes after eating a high carbohydrate meal.īlood sugars under 70 mg/dl (3.9 mmol/L) are considered to be hypoglycemic and should be avoided. Most normal people are under 100 mg/dl (5.5 mmol/L) two hours after eating. Under 120 mg/dl (6.6 mmol/L) one or two hours after a meal. Independent of what they eat, the blood sugars of truly normal people are: Nevertheless, most doctors consider any fasting blood sugar below 100 mg/dl (5.6 mmol/L) as completely normal Those with supposedly normal blood sugars above 92 mg/dl often do. People whose blood sugar tests at this level do not develop diabetes over the next decade or longer. This is the finding of a considerable body of research. A truly normal fasting blood sugar (which is also the blood sugar a normal person will see if they have not eaten for a few hours) is:īetween 70 mg/dl (3.9 mmol/L) and 92 mg/dl (5.0 mmol/L). Normal Fasting Blood Sugarįasting blood sugar is usually measured first thing in the morning before you have eaten any food. Rarely doctors will order a Oral Glucose Tolerance Test, which tests your response to a huge dose of pure glucose, which hits your blood stream within minutes and produces results quite different from the blood sugars you will experience after each meal. Doctors rarely test this important blood sugar measurement as it is time consuming and hence expensive. The most informative blood sugar reading is the post-meal blood sugar measured one and two hours after eating. When you are given a routine blood test doctors usually order a fasting glucose test. The blood sugar measures that doctors are most interested in is the A1c, discussed below.
It can even vary significantly from minute to minute. The concentration of glucose in our blood changes continually throughout the day. In most of the rest of the world it is measured in millimoles per liter, abbreviated as mmol/L.
it is measured in milligrams per deciliter, abbreviated as mg/dl. The term "blood sugar" refers to the concentration of glucose, a simple, sugar, that is found in a set volume of blood.
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