Diabetes Care

Researchers report that it's becoming more common for adults with diabetes to meet a key diabetes benchmark: having a hemoglobin A1c level lower than 7 percent.

Hemoglobin A1c, checked by a blood test, gauges blood sugar control over the past two to three months. Better blood sugar control means less chance of diabetes complications.

A new study shows a decline in recent years in average hemoglobin A1c levels among U.S. adults with diabetes. Here's a quick look at those averages:

7.82% in 1999-2000

7.47% in 2001-2002

7.18% in 2003-2004

Those numbers, based on blood tests taken by diabetes patients in national health surveys, "may indicate that diabetes care improved dramatically between 1999 and 2004," the study states.