Points to Remember

If you are of African, Mediterranean, or Southeast Asian heritage, you are at risk for having a hemoglobin variant.

You can have a variant form of hemoglobin but not know it.

Hemoglobin variants don’t cause diabetes but they can affect diabetes test results.

If you have a variant form of hemoglobin, the results of your A1C test might not be accurate. The results might show that your average blood glucose level is higher or lower than the actual level.

Your doctor needs accurate results from your A1C test in order to plan how best to control your diabetes.

Your doctor can read more about hemoglobin variants and the A1C test in Sickle Cell Trait and Other Hemoglobinopathies and Diabetes: Important Information for Physicians, a fact sheet available from the National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse.