Hemoglobin A1c (A1c), a test which measures a person's average blood glucose level over the past 2 to 3 months, is the current "gold standard" indicator of diabetes management. Bush emphasized, "landmark studies have found that every percentage drop in A1c cuts an individual's risk for debilitating and costly diabetic complications such as retinopathy, nephropathy, and neuropathy by about one-third."