Articles | Diabetes Healthy Solutions

Diabetes: what causes high blood sugar?

What causes high blood sugar? Why is diabetes incurable? These are only some of the questions new diabetics have. Diabetes is a disease in which the body does not produce large enough amounts of insulin. Insulin is the chemical that changes glucose (sugar) into fuel for the body. When the body does not produce enough of this chemical glucose levels spike, this is what causes high blood sugar.

High glucose levels cause kidney damage, eye damage, heart, and nervous system damage. This overtime can kill you or make your life much harder. This is also known as hyperglycemia. This cannot be fixed as it is a defective gene that can’t be removed from the diabetic. Hypoglycemia is where the body produces too much insulin (or too much is injected) and causes low blood sugar. This is also dangerous and its symptoms are dizziness, confusion, tiredness, and eventually fainting. Gestational Diabetes is a form of diabetes that forms when a woman is pregnant. This happens to two out of ten women during their pregnancy and can be deadly to both mother and child.

Now that you have a better knowledge of what causes high blood sugar you can learn how to deal with it. First talk to your doctor. He may prescribe medications that help with your sugar level. Also he may prescribe insulin to be injected. Other things that can be done are to constantly check your blood sugar regularly with a glucose meter. Also you should right down each test and its results on a graph to see what you can done to better your average sugar level. Vast amounts of greasy food block arteries and causes high blood pressure but at each blood pressure reading you should do the same and graph your readings to watch yourself improve. What causes high blood sugar may never really be answered.

What are acceptable blood sugar levels?

For a diabetic maintaining an acceptable blood sugar level is key to staying healthy. Diabetics whose blood sugar levels are high must talk with their doctor to find out what their blood sugar level should be which is determined by age, weight, and diet. Diabetes is the high blood sugar in a person’s body.

This is because of the small amount of insulin, a chemical that changes the glucose (sugar) in the body into fuel that the body can manage. If the body cannot produce enough of this chemical you become a diabetic and need insulin. The average amount of glucose in an adult is 140 mg/dl two hours after eating, with diabetes this number can reach an unacceptable blood sugar levels of 200 mg/dl and higher. This can result (overtime) in death and serious health problems.

Maintaining acceptable blood sugar levels is key in any diabetic life. Maintaining this is done by using a blood glucose meter. This small unit takes a small sample of blood in a strip and measures the amount of glucose in it. Then the unit displays the results on a small screen on the side. The American Diabetes Association States that all diabetes should use these small machines to measure your blood glucose and keep it on the spot. They also support using a blood sugar chart to graph your blood sugar readings. This is helpful because it can show you what you do and how it affects your blood sugar levels. Also they encourage proper diet and exercise as prescribed by your doctor. Maintaining a good acceptable blood sugar level is very important and should be a part of anyone’s life that has diabetes (form one or two) so talk to your doctor about what your acceptable blood sugar levels are.

Do you know the history of blood glucose machine?

The blood glucose machine has been around for around 31 years with the first units appearing in 1980. The blood glucose machine is used to calculate the concentration of glucose in the blood that is scanned. The blood is gotten by pricking the finger or a different area with a lancet and is placed in a disposable test strip that is then scanned by the unit and then displays the glucose concentration on a screen that is easy to read.

This has been a excellent addition to the diabetic’s arsenal as it helps with reducing the long term health issues of diabetes since it allows you to watch your blood sugar and keep it at a average rate. It has also helped with the short term life threatening problems of hypoglycemia.

The blood sugar testing machine is (and has been) about the size of the palm of an adult’s hand. The test strips are disposable plastic strips with chemicals in the end that use glucose oxidase to measure the blood glucose. The amount of blood needed to fill these small strips is only 0.3 to 1 ml of blood. Some of the older versions require more but the smaller versions require less blood for unproductive pricks. The display of the unit is a small window that displays the exact amount measured in the blood sample. Some of the meters offer alternate site testing such as the arm. But this presents problems as the blood in the arm is the last to change glucose level. The newer versions also have memory settings and will record each test the unit receives. This allows you to watch the changes in your blood glucose levels. This also allows you to show your doctor to look at your tests history and how your blood changed over time. Which blood glucose machine is best for you?

A 1 C Meter

A1c testing has been, until recently, done strictly by a visit to the physician every few months and having a blood sample sent in for testing, now it is possible to get fast and accurate test results at home with an at home a1c meter. Practically anyone who has diabetes is very familiar with testing their blood sugar, sometimes many times each day, just to track and trend their levels and try to keep them as close to normal as possible.

Though many diabetics routinely visit their doctors for A1C testing they are not sure what the test is all about. The A1C test is all about tracking the level of blood glucose over an extended time. The A1C test and the A1C meter that is used at home are designed to read the levels of glycosolated hemoglobin in the blood.

Once glucose binds to red blood cells and is transported throughout the body the hemoglobin or red blood cells, are said to be glycosolated and never return to the non-glycosolated state for the reminder of their life. Since red blood cells have a life span of around 120 days, when the doctor had the A1C test performed it is a very good indication of what the predominant trend in blood sugar levels have been for the past 120 days.

The home A1C meter, like the metrika A1C now+, is not designed to be used in the same fashion as the glucometer which so many people are familiar with. The A1C meter which is designed to be used at home is generally sold as kits with the meter and two tests. The test kits are generally not reusable and it is not possible to buy refill kits, but with the capability to test twice for around $30 makes the kits attractive and very useful, especially for tracking the glucose level over a period of time.

Glucose meter comparison, will it help you?

Have you just recently found out that you have diabetes and aren’t sure what to do next? The doctor has told you that you need a glucose meter such as the one touch ultra smart but you would like to read some glucose meter comparisons or at least some glucose meter reviews before you commit.

Glucometer comparisons come in all shapes, sizes and can be found in a wide variety of places such as on the internet, in the library, by talking to other diabetics or family members, your doctor or medical physician.

There are glucose meter comparison charts which can be found online that will show you the differences between various glucometers with prices, dependability, accuracy and ease of use.

One of the most popular glucose meter comparisons can be found by your doctor or pharmacist because they hear people talking about glucometers and they also read reviews and comparisons so that they can better serve their clients on a daily basis. After all pharmacists are supposed to be reliable and who wants to go to a pharmacist who isn’t?

The One touch ultra smart is a great little glucose meter that is portable, reliable, accurate, is easy to use and all comes with an affordable price tag. With the one touch ultra smart you can also get great glucose test strips which fit snuggly into the one touch ultra smart and allows you to get accurate and reliable readings each and every time.

In order to get the best out of your glucose meter, check out a glucose meter comparison chart or review to help you find the best glucose meter for your money and to help you have good health, after all why invest in a meter that is not going to give you accurate readings each and every time?