Diabetes | Diabetes Healthy Solutions

What is elevated blood glucose?

Do you have diabetes and suffer from an elevated blood glucose? What is elevated blood glucose?

Many people who are diabetics suffer from an elevated blood glucose level because as your body adjusts to new medications, insulin, etc. the levels of insulin and glucose that your body is able to make will react differently to each other causing them to work harder.

A healthy glucose level means that your body is running and working smoothly and all parts of your body is working well with each other so that you can have a healthy glucose level. When you are diabetic or have any type of medical history or family history you need to keep careful tabs on your blood pressure and cholesterol levels as well as your blood glucose levels so that none of them get elevated.

Elevated blood glucose, elevated blood pressure and elevated cholesterol levels all gone unchecked or untreated can cause many major medical problems such as organ and system failure, heart attacks, stroke and even death.

Being a diabetic and having elevated blood glucose levels are only the beginning of a world wind of events that can occur being a diabetic. Elevated blood pressure can lead to strokes or heart attacks caused by restricted blood vessels and elevated cholesterol levels can lead to stroke, lightheaded, fainting and death if not treated or taken care of when first caught. Many people take elevated blood pressure, elevated cholesterol and elevated blood glucose levels lightly and normally end up finding out the hard way or dealing with near death experiences before they realize how serious elevated blood glucose levels and elevated blood pressure can be.

Are you a diabetic, do you suffer from elevated blood pressure, elevated cholesterol or elevated blood glucose or are you one of the few who has a healthy glucose?

Symptoms of High Glucose

When it comes down to it with every passing day the number of people who need to be concerned with the symptoms of high glucose is increasing each and every day. Many people are familiar with the risks of heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, and cancer, but not so many people are aware of the fact that the numbers of people actually suffering long term health effects from these diseases is actually on a slight decline. On the other hand, the numbers of new cases of diabetes is increasing every day, and so symptoms of high glucose are more of a concern than ever before.

Symptoms of high glucose can be many and varied, but all are a direct result of the fact that those who have high glucose have some dysfunction that either prohibits the pancreas from producing insulin or stops the cells of the body from responding to insulin as they should. Glucose, which the body produces from the carbohydrates that we take in as food, is important because it is the fuel that powers every cell of the body. In order for the glucose to power the cells it must pass through the cell wall, and this can only happen in the presence of insulin, which makes the cell wall allow the glucose to pass through. When the insulin is not produced or the cells don’t react to it properly the glucose levels in the bloodstream climb.

Symptoms of high glucose include a feeling of intense fatigue and lethargy, general malaise, weakness, rapid heart rate and respirations, and in severe cases coma and death. Usually the symptoms to watch for are, increases thirst, increased hunger, and increased urination. If you or someone you know is experiencing these symptoms, especially if they have a family history of diabetes, it is probably a good idea to set an appointment with a physician for a fasting blood glucose test to determine if the symptoms indicate high glucose and the onset of diabetes. The key to managing diabetes is to keep blood glucose levels as close to normal as possible, and the only way to do that is to be familiar with the symptoms of high glucose.

Glucose Level after Eating

The glucose level after eating should be the chief concern of anyone with diabetes, and should be one of the most important tests associated with the disease.

In the world of medicine, the things that are considered normal are generally what are to be desired, however, upon close examination of the usual manner of establishing a fasting glucose to determine baseline blood glucose levels there is something decidedly abnormal in the test itself.

Normally the fasting blood glucose test is used to diagnose diabetes, but the manner in which the test is administered makes it abnormal when attempting to ascertain the glucose level after eating.

When a patient, or their physician thinks they may have some sort of glucose related abnormality the physician usually instructs the patient to fast from anything but water from midnight of the night before the fasting glucose test is to me administered. The patient arrives at the physician’s office and is given a solution containing a known amount of glucose to drink. The patient’s blood glucose level is then checked at intervals after the solution is taken to determine how well the body is metabolizing the glucose.

This is odd because in most cases the optimum amount of time that must pass between the last food intake is a full 8 hours, yet very few people go a full 8 hours without eating in their normal day to day life. Perhaps a better way to determine how well the body metabolizes glucose is to take the blood glucose reading around two hours after a meal. In a normal person the blood glucose level 2 hours after a meal should be no more than 140, and that normal glucose level after eating should be the target of the diabetic patient, regardless of what their “fasting” glucose level is.

Free glucose monitors and equipment

For many people who have been diagnosed with diabetes, may not be able to afford the equipment associated with diabetes so there is hope – free glucose monitors. Free glucose monitors, free glucose test strips and free diabetic supplies don’t go unnoticed to the people who need it the most.

For a lot of people in this horrible, low economy that we are in the paychecks doesn’t change, but the bills still come in and often times go up. Being a diabetic definitely puts a damper on things because there are so many extra costs associated with the disease. Diabetics have various medications, glucose test strips, glucose monitors and much more, but often times people find themselves choosing between their healths and putting food on the table.

There is hope; just like hospice is there for cancer patients and people with terminal diseases, there are associations that are in place to help people who can’t otherwise afford glucose monitors and diabetic supplies.

These associations will loan out or give out free glucose monitors, free glucose test strips and free diabetic supplies because they know the importance of trying to stay healthy and safe.

For many of these companies they get this equipment because other people have donated their equipment maybe after someone they know has passed or through donations.

Free glucose monitors and free glucose test strips are in top demand because to a diabetic being able to keep an eye and monitor their daily fasting blood glucose is often times the meaning of life and death.

By being able to get a free glucose monitor, a diabetic can keep their own journal or log without having to go into the doctor’s often frequently and they will be allowed a chance to have some form of independence. A free glucose monitor or free diabetic supplies too many is like opening a new present at Christmas time! It is a blessing.

What are some of the foods that diabetics can eat?

Some of the foods that diabetics can eat are the same as me and you, but within moderation. The meals that diabetics can eat, foods that diabetics can eat and the diet that diabetics can eat are the same as anyone else just with moderation and careful planning. Being diabetic doesn’t mean the end of the world, being diabetic just means careful planning, better diets, reading labels and monitoring what you eat and consume more carefully than others.The meals that diabetics can eat are the same that you and I can eat without diabetes just without all of the sugar and extra salt.

My grandmother is diabetic and I used to think that it would be tough fixing two different meals every time that I helped them cook but then I learned that she could eat the same thing as me and you just without the added sugar, seasoning and salt. So, now when I fix meals for them and us I take hers out in separate containers before I add the extra sugar, salt or seasonings to it. The foods that diabetics can eat really are the same as what everyone can eat just in moderation.

Of course, there are many various cookbooks out there that can be rented, downloaded or purchased that have all sorts of various recipes that diabetics can eat so that they still can have meals fixed with sugar substitutes in order to have that yummy, delicious taste instead of a more bland and plain taste.

There are all sorts of places to find a list of foods that diabetics can eat such as online, through your doctor’s office or physician or local library. After all, the same fruits that diabetics can eat and the same foods that diabetics can eat are no different from me and you!