Newswise — Doctors want their diabetic patients to remember a lot of numbers. Simple blood glucose indicates current blood sugar level. Knowing blood pressure and cholesterol levels also is urged. Health educators now emphasize patients also should keep track of their hemoglobin a1c, also called "the A1C," which is an index of average blood glucose of the past 2-3 months that shows whether a patient's blood sugar is under control. But few patients understand these numbers or try to make them better, according to recent studies done elsewhere. UAB endocrinologist Fernando Ovalle, M.D., said, "The name A1C is not a catchy one, and there's a lot of confusion because it's been called different things."

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