<unk>  (glycohemoglobin,<unk>  A1c,<unk> , less commonly<unk> ,<unk> ,<unk> , etc., also A1C informally with patients) is a form of<unk>  (Hb) that is chemically linked to a sugar. Most monosaccharides, including glucose, galactose and fructose, spontaneously (i.e. non-enzymatically) bond with<unk> , when present in the bloodstream of humans. However, glucose is less likely to do so than galactose and fructose (13% that of fructose and 21% that of galactose), which may explain why glucose is used as the primary metabolic fuel in humans. The formation of the sugar-hemoglobin linkage indicates the presence of excessive sugar in the bloodstream, often indicative of diabetes. A1C is of particular interest because it is easy to detect. The process by which sugars attach to<unk>  is called glycation.<unk>  is a measure of the beta-N-1-deoxy fructosyl component of<unk> . A1c is measured primarily to determine the three-month average blood sugar level and can be used as a diagnostic test for diabetes mellitus and as an assessment test for glycemic control in people with diabetes. The test is limited to a three-month average because the average lifespan of a red blood cell is four months. Since individual red blood cells have varying lifespans, the test is used as a limited measure of three months. Normal levels of glucose produce a normal amount of<unk> . As the average amount of plasma glucose increases, the fraction of<unk>  increases in a predictable way. In diabetes, higher amounts of<unk> , indicating poorer control of blood glucose levels, have been associated with cardiovascular disease, nephropathy, neuropathy, and retinopathy.
Glycated hemoglobin
Pulse oximetry
Blood urea nitrogen
Hematocrit
Glycemic index
Hemoximetry
Plethysmograph
Ambulatory blood pressure