Your Target Ranges in Type 1

The numbers most adults are given are the same as in Type 2 diabetes. What differs in Type 1 is how the balance is struck.

HbA1c is usually checked every six months if you are in range, and every three months if your treatment has changed or you are not meeting your target.

The important difference is the weight given to low blood sugar. Because Type 1 is treated with insulin, pushing an HbA1c down aggressively risks frequent lows, and repeated lows are harmful in their own right. A target that looks excellent on paper but comes with a low every other day is not a good target.

So your own numbers may be set higher — commonly if you are very young, if you live alone, if you have had a severe low, or if you have stopped feeling lows coming.

Children and teenagers are managed differently again, and their targets should come from a paediatric team rather than from adult figures.

Time in range is increasingly used alongside HbA1c, and it captures something HbA1c cannot: two people with the same average can have completely different days.