Guidance on A1c result

[tapdancer1967]

Hi all. Got a test result of A1c of 112 mmol/mol in January and got put straight onto Metaformin and of course advised to make a lot of lifestyle changes.

In guidance it only talks about levels of over 75 being dangerous, how much worse is being over 100? what is the range?

3 months later i'm down to 59 mmol/mol so happy with progress but I am still unsure how much risk I was at when it was 112.

 

[lordburnside]

59 is still diabetic but only half as bad as you were. Keep eating the right food and get under the magic 48.
112 would worry me but I am not a doctor.

 

[Inka]

112 is high but a number of people get higher, so I wouldn’t say it was dangerous unless you had additional issues @tapdancer1967

 

[Deb_l]

I'm not sure dangerous is the word I would use, more 'fallout' from prolonged high blood sugar maybe.

Speaking from experience, I'm currently having to deal with diabetic induced cataracts in both eyes (right eye I can hardly see out of) and a minimal degree of neuropathy in my feet so having a high HbA1c has certainly left me with issues despite now being in a healthy range.

Some people however don't get any noticeable long-term problems or symptoms so I guess it's just the luck of the draw, like a lot of things.

Edited to add, my reply is from a Type 2 perspective who is still producing their own insulin. Yes, from the perspective of a person who cannot produce their own insulin, if left untreated, high blood sugar is very dangerous indeed.

 

[Martin.A]

Hi all. Got a test result of A1c of 112 mmol/mol in January and got put straight onto Metaformin and of course advised to make a lot of lifestyle changes.

In guidance it only talks about levels of over 75 being dangerous, how much worse is being over 100? what is the range?

3 months later i'm down to 59 mmol/mol so happy with progress but I am still unsure how much risk I was at when it was 112.

I was marginally higher and also put straight on to Metformin, but by June I was down to 56 and off the meds. At no point did anyone tell me my 114 was dangerously high. My DN didn't even suggest insulin to bring it down, which was a big call but, so far at least, she seems to have called it right.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

3 months later i'm down to 59 mmol/mol so happy with progress but I am still unsure how much risk I was at when it was 112.

Some people however don't get any noticeable long-term problems or symptoms so I guess it's just the luck of the draw, like a lot of things.

I agree with @Deb_l - diabetes can be fickle, unfair, contrary, and illogical. Some people can have very high levels for many years with apparently no ill effects, and no development of long term complications, while for other people relatively short-lived foray into high levels can see changes to eyes and nerves.

I think the evidence shows this too - two people can have an identical HbA1c, and yet have a very different experience of complications. Particularly if the ‘same’ HbA1c comes from very different glucose profiles (one erratic high to low, and the other smoother with less instability). But I think part of the risk is just personal / genetic too.

Overall research seems to suggest that the levels of risk rise over time. And rise much faster at higher levels, with a sort of J shaped curve, so the progress you have already made will most likely have significantly reduced your risks.

 

[Eddy Edson]

Complication risk is a function of how high & for how long (and what other risk factors are present). Complications generally take years to develop, faster as A1c increases. Spending years at 75, or fewer years at 112, is definitely "dangerous".