[temperance]

I was at my doctors office worrying really hard about keeping my blood sugars under 140 2 hours postprandial. We talked about my A1c and he mentioned that there is new research that shows that diabetics with an A1c under 6.0 are more prone to complications than those under 7. I haven't found any research to support this. Is he feeding me a line?

[dano]

I think that your doctor may have been quoting the Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes (ACCORD) diabetes trial, which involves T1's and T2's with cardiovascular disease. I have heard this argument before. Here is the best link that I can find and here is the ACCORD web link.

I don't pay much attention to doctors and endocrinologists that quote the out dated ADA guidelines, either, just for the record.

[suba]

So what is the ideal HbA1c value for a diabetic?
In the US my doc suggests I should keep it under 6; In India, some docs insist that the value be between 6 and 7.

[dano]

Quote from Blood Sugar 101:

"A truly normal A1c is between 4.6% and 5.4%

A1cs are not as good a measure of actual blood sugar control in individuals as they are for groups. An A1c of 5.1% maps to an average blood sugar of 100 mg/dl (5.6 mmol/L) or less when group statistics are analyzed, but normal variations in how our red blood cells work make the A1cs of truly normal individuals fall into a wider range."

[geniel]

My doctor was excited when mine dropped from 13.2 to 5.5 in 5 months. He told me I was in the non-diabetic range and I don't have to see her for 6 months. I work hard at keeping it there, have also lost 33 lbs

[rclarke6]

Congratulations Geniel, that is a fantastic accomplishment !

[colleen626]

That's great, Geniel!

How did you do it?

[geniel]

I exercise every morning, 30 to 45 minutes on the treadmill and watch my carb intake. I don't eat anything with white flour or white sugar. Lots of fiber and protein. For a snack every day I eat a balance bar in the morning and in the afternoon I have an apple and some nuts. I also have a snack around 9:30 in the evening of something with protein and sugar free. Keeping myself from getting hungry really helps a lot. It also keeps my metabolism running on a higher level.