disease | Diabetes Healthy Solutions

What is the normal range of blood glucose?

The normal range of blood glucose depends on many things including weight, age, and other small things. The glucose in the body’s main forms of energy and is really just sugar in the blood stream. If the glucose becomes too high it can damage the person’s body and even kill them. The normal range of blood glucose in an adult is 180m/dl after meals. If the body has a constant or uneven change in the blood glucose levels it may be a sign of diabetes.

Hypoglycemia is where the body has a two low an amount of blood sugar. This happens usually when someone does not eat properly and needs to consume more energy. The symptoms of hypoglycemia are shaking, confusion, dizziness, and fainting if levels become too low. This can be easily reversed with a simple dose of sugar (by eating) or insulin. On the other hand hyperglycemia is there is a high of blood glucose. This presence of hyperglycemia in the body generally means that the body is not producing the amount of insulin needed to convert the sugar into energy. This is usually called diabetes and can be very serious. (Your doctor must take readings before diagnosing you with the disease) The damage that this can do includes heart and kidney disease, and eye sight loss. Both of these can be treated but will change your life forever, for better or worse. Watching what you eat and by knowing your prescribed normal range of blood glucose levels you can watch for these.

Managing a normal range of blood glucose is a fairly easy responsibility. For those with only small mild cases of hyperglycemia can easily manage a normal range of blood glucose with proper exercise and a proper diet. Those who have a more serious case of diabetes much constantly watch what they eat and their blood glucose levels with a meter. Plus they may have to use insulin that they inject into their blood stream to help with the blood glucose level.

What is a Healthy Blood Sugar Level?

As the number of people diagnosed with diabetes continues to rise the question of what is a healthy blood sugar level has become one of the most frequently asked questions in doctor’s offices all around the world. While there are no hard and fast rules, normal blood glucose is generally thought to be between 60 and 100 milligrams per deciliter.

Though this the normal rule in some cases blood sugar levels can be affected by other underlying medical conditions, including the age, weight, and overall health condition of the patient, the only one who can determine what is a healthy blood sugar level for the individual is the individual’s physician.

If you are a diabetic, the best way to keep your diabetes in control and in check is by regularly checking your blood sugar level and maintaining them as close to normal as possible. Only by maintaining a healthy blood sugar level can the worst of the health effects of diabetes be headed off.

A healthy blood sugar level is the only way to prevent diabetes related neuropathy, blindness, kidney disease and other long term effects of abnormal blood sugar levels. Whether you have type one or type two diabetes, whether you control your blood sugar by diet alone, or with a combination of diet and medication, the blood sugar is the key to the prevention of long term detrimental health effects.

A healthy blood sugar level can be maintained, but it does take a great deal of discipline, especially when it comes to counting carbs and regulating sugar intake as a means of keeping the sugar in check. Let’s face it the foods that we love the most are the ones that are highest in sugars and the kind of carbs that we shouldn’t be eating if we want to keep ourselves healthy. Regardless of the difficulty the only way to stay healthy is to wake up each morning aware of what is a healthy blood sugar level and do what it takes to maintain it.

The Continuous Blood Glucose Monitor

The continuous blood glucose monitor is a bit of new technology that may someday revolutionize the treatment and monitoring of those with blood glucose abnormalities brought about by the metabolic diseases known as diabetes. For anyone with diabetes the key to keeping the disease under control and the effects and symptoms in check is to maintain a blood glucose level that is as close to normal as possible, for as much of the time as possible. In some diabetics maintaining proper blood glucose levels may be no trouble at all, and in others blood glucose levels can fluctuate very rapidly. It is in those with rapid swings in blood glucose levels, or particularly hard to maintain blood glucose levels that the continuous blood glucose monitor really comes into its own.

The continuous blood glucose monitor of today, such as the glucowatch, is usually worn on the wrist like a wristwatch. The monitor checks blood glucose levels by administering a painless electric shock which draws interstitial fluid from the pores and this is read by the monitor to obtain a blood glucose level. This testing can be done with no pain or other side effects as often as every 20 minutes and the readings are recorded by the monitor, which can also be set to alarm if readings are too high or too low. With this kind of continuous sampling tracking and trending changes in blood glucose levels throughout the day is relatively easy.

While the present generation continuous blood glucose monitor cannot replace the finger stick blood glucose reading for spot on accuracy and dependability and should not be relied on as the only source of blood glucose level data, companies such as Abbott and Medtronic are diligently working on improving the technology. One day soon, the diabetic will be able to simply strap on their continuous blood glucose monitor and never have to suffer through another irritating finger stick to keep track of their blood glucose level.

Low Blood Sugar Range

Diabetes can be any one of several metabolic diseases that affect the way the body metabolizes glucose, this means that for many people staying above the low blood sugar range can be a real concern. While diabetes isn’t the only culprit, it is usually to blame whenever a person suffers a bout of low blood sugar, and low blood sugar can lead to feeling weak, the inability to think clearly, and even coma and death. Usually the blood sugar should be somewhere between 60 and 100 mg/dl, though in some cases those with blood sugar abnormalities may have unknowingly functioned outside the normal range for so long that their blood sugar may be as high as 300 without their feeling it and a low blood sugar range could go as low as 30-40 mg/dl. At 30 mg/dl a normal person would at least be unable to think clearly and would probably be comatose.

When a diabetic or someone suffering from a similar metabolic disease begins to suffer from low blood sugar it is important that they get some type of simple sugar into their body while they are still conscious and able to swallow correctly. Fruit juices, sugar, non-diet colas, and candy are great sources of fast acting sugars that can quickly raise the blood sugar level. It should be remembered, however, that these types of sugars are a quick-fix, and will rapidly raise the blood sugar level and just as rapidly be depleted and allow it to fall. In order for blood sugar to be maintained for the long term, the person suffering from a low blood sugar range needs complex carbohydrates like peanut butter and crackers, or better yet a full meal.

If the sugar continues to fall into the low blood sugar range unconsciousness will quickly result. Never attempt to give any type of food or drink to an unconscious or nearly unconscious person as this can lead to the material being sucked into the lungs which will result in a severe infection or death. If the person has lost consciousness due to low blood sugar the only way to take care of the problem is by rapid emergency medical treatment which will consist of a glucose solution being given directly into the bloodstream via IV.

Diabetes Symptoms in Men

Though many diseases seem to exhibit different symptoms depending on which sex has the disease, many times diabetes symptoms in men differ little from diabetes symptoms in women. Whether type 1 of type 2diabetes, men suffer from most of the same diease symptoms as women, as far as the diabetes itself is concerned. The secondary diseases that often accompany diabetes, such as heart disease, high blood pressure, and kidney problems affect diabetic males in much the same way as they affect males without diabetes.

One of the chief reasons that a person should be familiar with the symptoms of diabetes, regardless of their sex, is that diabetes rates are on the rise even as the rates of diagnosis for heart disease, high blood pressure and cancer continue to decrease.

The three classic diabetes symptoms in men, and in women, are increased thirst, increased hunger, and increased urination. The best way to remember these symptoms is by understanding just a little bit about how diabetes works. Diabetes begins when either the pancreas ceases to produce a hormone called insulin, or the cells of the body become resistant to the action of insulin.

Insulin must be properly metabolized due to the fact that it is only through the action of insulin that the glucose that we get from out food can pass into the cells and be used for energy. If the glucose cannot pass into the cells it builds in the bloodstream where it can, in high levels, begin to cause damage to many body systems. Since the glucose molecule is so large it attracts water molecules to itself, this more fluid that normal out of the body during urination and leads to increased thirst.

This is compounded by the fact that when the body recognizes a glucose increases it tries to rid itself of excess glucose through the kidney and this leads to increased urination. Because the insulin is either not present or the cells are resistant to it, the cells do not get the glucose needed as fuel and this leads to increases hunger even though there is an excess of glucose already in the blood.

Diabetes symptoms in men and women have very little variance between the sexes, if you or someone you know begins to have constantly increased hunger, increased thirst, and increased urination, especially if they have a family history of diabetes, it is probably time to talk to a doctor to make sure that they aren’t developing diabetes.