I know my fair share of medical terms, but I sometimes get lost in conversations when I speak to another health professional.

And feel kind of stupid.

That is why I’ve decided to start a new segment on the blog called Diabetes Dictionary. Every week, I will be featuring diabetes-related words that will help to ease the conversation you have with your diabetes health care provider and make you look smarter.

A1C

If there is only one word you need to remember, it is A1C. A1C is probably the first element all health care professional checks to determine how well diabetes is being controlled.

Also known as glycosylated hemoglobin or hemoglobin A1C, A1C represents the average blood sugar level over the past two to three months. On the other hand, the glucometer allows real-time blood sugar measurements. Glycosylated hemoglobin is an indication of how much glucose, a type of sugar, is attached to hemoglobins, a protein that carries oxygen found inside the red blood cell.

In simpler terms: more sugar in the bloodstream = more glycated hemoglobin.

Brittle Diabetes

Brittle diabetes is defined as severe fluctuation of the glycemia characterized by highs, lows, and/or diabetic ketoacidosis usually seen in people with type 1 diabetes. The causes behind such fluctuation could be various: stress, gastroparesis, celiac disease, etc.

The term brittle diabetes stirred up quite the pot a couple of years ago as some experts coined it as a distinct condition while others prefer to use the term variability.

Technicality, I would say.

Glucagon

Glucagon is the polar opposite of insulin. Instead of lowering blood sugar, glucagon is a hormone that aims to increase glycemia. It does so by encouraging the breakdown of glycogen, a form of energy storage, into glucose. People with type 1 diabetes often carry injectable glucagon to treat hypoglycemia when needed.