I have type 2 diabetes. my a1c is 7.3. is that good or bad?

Need improvement: You would need your doctor to help you in controlling you blood glucose level better. There is plenty room for improvement in your case.

Could be better: That a1c is higher than what your target should be. If you are on oral medications for diabetes, you should be no higher than 6.5, and a target less than 6.0 is reasonable. There is some evidence that if you are elderly with heart disease an a1c under 6.0 might be too low, but for your age of 37 i would want you to get to 6 if you have no side effects to the medications. Weight loss and diet !

Depends . . .: We used to say lower is better and aim for everyone to have goal a1c <7. Since accord trial several yrs ago, we recommend adjusting goal according to patient. Younger patients who've had dm for shorter period of time can be treated more aggressively while older patients who've had dm for longer period of time are ok w/a1c 7-8. Best to chat w/your family doc to individualize your goal.

BAD: In my dn2 patients i aim for below 7. This suggests an average sugar over 160. Can't you do better and get below 7?

Both: The a1c is what i call the three month average of blood sugar. The dream is to keep an a1c below 7 -what i call an a+ in blood sugar management. Is 7.3 bad? Well, it is not that perfect a+ we mentioned but in some people, particularly older adults, a perfect score can cause more harm than good. In a 37 year old 7.3 is pretty good and it won't take much change to get you below the 7 next time.

A bit high.: Most diabetologists would suggest keeping your a1c closer to 6 (between 6 and 7). Actually, if one observes the data on risk vs a1c, risk starts to rise at an a1c of 5.5; however, there are fewer episodes of hypoglycemia if one maintains an a1c between 6 and 7. Recent data suggests metformin treats diabetes and also reduces the risk of cancer (mtor inhibition).

Normal is <6.0: For every 1% your a1c is above 6.0 (in your case 1.3% higher) your risk of dying of a diabetes-related complication in the fairly near future goes up by 20-40%. Or, in your case it's a 26-52% higher death rate. I don't think that's good -- what do you think. Work with your doc re: diet, exercise, education, monitoring medication to lower numbers, be healthier, feel better, and live longer.

IT'S OK BUT: It's not bad; it should be between 6 and 7 for diabetics. The lower the better! As you may know, this test measures your average sugar over 2-3 months. As a GENERAL rule, an A1C of 5=100, 6=130, 7=160 and so on. Add 30 as you go from 5 to 6 to 7...