What A1c level is considered diabetes?
Answered by the AskDoc Medical Team · Medically reviewed under our Medical Director, MBBS
An HbA1c of 6.5 percent (48 mmol/mol) or higher on two tests is the usual threshold for diabetes. 5.7 to 6.4 percent counts as prediabetes, and below 5.7 is normal.
The test averages roughly three months of blood sugar, which is why doctors trust it more than a single fasting reading. Anemia and some blood conditions can skew it slightly.
Prediabetes is the finding worth acting on hardest: weight loss, walking after meals and better sleep reverse it in a large share of people. Diabetes is far easier to prevent than to cure.
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