What does an HbA1c number actually tell you?

It reflects your average blood glucose over roughly the previous two to three months, because glucose attaches to haemoglobin in red blood cells over their lifespan. That makes it more useful than a single fasting reading, which captures one moment. Broad interpretation: below 5.7 percent is normal, 5.7 to 6.4 indicates prediabetes, and 6.5 or above meets the threshold for diabetes on repeat testing. It can be misleading if you have anaemia, a haemoglobin variant, or recent blood loss — all relevant in India — so a discordant result is worth discussing rather than accepting at face value.