The HbA1c is linearly related to the average blood sugar over the past 1-3 months
(but is heavily weighted to the past 2-4 weeks).
Mean Plasma Glucose (mg/dl) = (HbA1c X 35.6) - 77.3
(Rohlfing CL and coworkers. Diabetes Care 25:275-278, 2002)
Mean Plasma Blood Glucose(mmol/L) = (HbA1c * 1.98) - 4.29
Mean whole blood glucose = (HbA1c * 30) - 60
The HbA1c is strongly associated with the risk of development and progression of microvascular and nerve complications
Since these complications occur slowly over time, the younger you are when you get diabetes (or the longer your life expectancy),
the higher the risk of end-stage complications
High HbA1c (>9.0-9.5%) is associated with very rapid progression of microvascular complications
