Better to Ask Than Guess Whether You Fast for an A1C Test
Do you fast for an A1C? No — and fasting you weren't asked to do can change how a glucose result drawn from the same needle gets read.
Sameer Patel — Founder & Editor
Sameer Patel is the founder and editor of My Medicine Advisor. He is not a doctor or medical professional — before starting this site he worked in banking, and he now researches and edits health information full-time.
He started My Medicine Advisor to make clear, well-sourced health information freely available to anyone. Every article is researched from recognised authorities such as the WHO, CDC, NIH, and NICE, drafted with the help of AI tools, and edited by hand, with sources linked so readers can check them. The calculators on the site use established, published formulas, each one named so you can look it up yourself.
My Medicine Advisor is currently a one-person operation with no clinical review panel, and the site is open about that. If you're a qualified clinician or researcher interested in reviewing content, Sameer would genuinely like to hear from you via the contact page.
How Accurate Is the A1C Test Your Lab Already Verified
A1C test accuracy is not one number: about 7% of people worldwide carry a hemoglobin variant, and only some assay methods are affected by it.
A Normal A1C Level and What It Really Settles
A normal A1C level is below 5.7%. About 7% of the world carries a hemoglobin variant that can shift the number without the blood sugar moving.
The Right Way to Read Every Row of an A1C Chart
A1C chart numbers do two different jobs. 5.7 and 6.5 diagnose; 7.0 is a target for someone already diagnosed. The same 6.5 sits on both lists.
How to Read Your A1C Result and Its Honest Margin
Your A1C is a measurement, and measurements carry a margin. A result reported as 6.8% can come back between 6.4% and 7.2% on the same blood sample.
An Oral PCSK9 Inhibitor Now Exists, and Statins Still Come First
Oral PCSK9 inhibitors used to mean injections. The guideline your clinician follows was published four months before the first tablet was approved.
Before Judging At-Home Cholesterol Test Accuracy, Read the Box
At-home cholesterol test accuracy is one question; who is accountable for your number is another. A firm that only mails your sample is not the lab.
Ask Which Numbers a Walk-In Cholesterol Test Returns
Walk-in cholesterol testing is federally categorized as waived: simple and low-risk, but as the CDC puts it, not error-proof. Here is what to ask.
Numbers Alone Do Not Settle Cholesterol Testing in Older Adults
Cholesterol testing in older adults measures what it always did. What changed is the risk those same numbers describe, and who reads them with you.
What Puberty Has to Do With a Cholesterol Test for Children
A cholesterol test for children is not a nutrition assessment. It looks for a condition a child is born with, in a window puberty makes necessary.