Who writes this
Ben Bird is the founder and primary author of A1C Levels. He holds a B.S. in Molecular Biology from Boston University (1993) and spent the years after graduation working in a diabetes research laboratory, where he became fluent in the science of insulin signaling, glucose regulation, and the slow, patient work of clinical research.
He is not a physician. He does not write prescriptions, and nothing on this site should be read as a substitute for one. What he does offer is something different: careful, sourced explanations of what the research actually says, written by someone who can read a clinical trial without a translator — and who has been doing exactly that for the readers of this site since 2011.
Areas of focus include A1C interpretation, glycemic control strategies, GLP-1 receptor agonists, continuous glucose monitoring, and the lifestyle interventions with the strongest evidence behind them.
Why this site exists
A1C Levels has been online since 2011, born out of a simple frustration: most diabetes information on the web back then was either too clinical to be readable or too dumbed-down to be useful. The middle ground — accurate, current, written in plain English, with sources you can check — was missing.
Fifteen years and several treatment revolutions later (continuous glucose monitors, SGLT2 inhibitors, and now the GLP-1 era), that gap still exists. This site tries to fill it.
Medical review
Clinical content on A1C Levels is reviewed by Susanna Lacagnina, RD, a Registered Dietitian licensed in California. Pages that have been reviewed carry her name and a review date near the top of the article. Pages without that stamp are either pending review or are non-clinical (the shop page, this About page, and so on).
If a page's review date is more than twelve months old, treat it as background reading rather than current guidance and check the linked primary sources for anything that may have changed.
How content is created
Every clinical page follows the same process:
Our editorial process in four steps:
- Primary sources first. Where guidelines exist (ADA, AACE, NICE), we cite them directly. Where the question hinges on a specific trial, we link to the trial instead of to a press release about the trial.
- Plain language, not dumbed-down and sculpted language. We trust readers to handle real numbers, real terminology, and real uncertainty.
- RD review on clinical pages. Susanna Lacagnina, RD reviews clinical content before publication and again at least annually.
- Corrections are welcome. If you find an error, email the address below. Confirmed errors are corrected promptly.
What this site is not
A1C Levels is an educational resource, not a substitute for medical care. We do not diagnose conditions, recommend specific medications or doses for individual readers, or replace the relationship between you and your healthcare provider.
If you are managing diabetes or prediabetes, your treatment decisions belong in a conversation with a clinician who knows your full history. We can help you arrive at that conversation better informed; we cannot replace it.
How we make money
Transparency matters in health publishing
- Affiliate commissions on glucose meters, CGMs, and related products linked from our Shop Meters page. The price you pay is unchanged; we receive a small commission from the retailer when you buy through these links.
- Display advertising on some pages, served programmatically. We do not control which specific ads appear, and ad content is not endorsed by us.
We do not accept payment from pharmaceutical companies, device manufacturers, or supplement brands for editorial coverage. Our drug comparison pages, including the GLP-1 comparison, are not sponsored. If that ever changes, it will be disclosed clearly on the affected page, near the top, in plain language.
Contact
General questions, corrections, and press inquiries: happyconcepts.com [at] gmail.com
We read everything. We can't reply to personal medical questions — please don't send them. For those, please see a clinician.