There are many people who are out there wondering about blood sugar and how it works out. You may often hear someone who is getting grumpy late in the work day talk about how they have low blood sugar and need a pick me up. This can be true, but blood sugars don’t necessarily mean the same thing to different people.
Obviously, most people know that blood sugar regulation is the hallmark of people with diabetes. Their pancreas does not create enough of the hormone used to process sugar that is found in the bloodstream. Diabetics need to be very careful and they have to check their blood sugar levels consistently to ensure that they are staying within the safe levels. But what are normal levels? Read on for information about blood sugar levels for different people.
When a person is checking their blood sugar level, it’s measured in milligrams per decilitre (mg/dL). Many other countries use a different system, but here in the United States, it’s traditionally always stuck with that. Normal blood sugar levels vary depending on what time of day it is, whether someone has been eating recently, etc. Typically, a pre-meal blood sugar level is somewhere between 70 to 130. It takes a bit of time for a person to absorb the sugar within a meal into their bloodstream, but about an hour after a meal, blood sugar will typically rise up to around 180. It’s important to note that everyone is different. Some people will see more fluctuations in their blood sugar than other people.
Diabetics need to be careful and regulate their blood sugar as well. Their blood sugar going too low can potentially be very damaging. Before they exercise, it’s important for them to ensure their blood sugar is at least 100 so that it doesn’t drop too low during a workout.
Many diabetics suffer from consistent high blood sugar, because it’s difficult to keep blood sugar down for them. Diabetics (or others) who consistently have blood sugar from 180 to 200 may suffer from some dangers. What happens is that ketones build up in the bloodstream. From there, the ketones then cause some serious problems. These include:
There are also more severe long term issues. Very high blood sugar levels can cause a person to actually go into a coma. These coma’s are incredibly dangerous and can end in death. It also leads to nerve damage, as well as damaging a person’s eyes, kidneys and their heart. High blood sugar is a serious problem that needs to be watched.
There are many people who also may suffer from hypoglycemia. This is the official name for low blood sugar. While people with Diabetes are well aware of the dangers, not everyone realizes that extreme low blood sugar is dangerous.
The first danger is that consistent occasions of low blood sugar will begin to have the body stop exposing the symptoms. At that point, people may not even realize that it’s happening. When blood sugars drop below 70 mg/dL, people need to quickly work to correct it. Juice or soft drinks should be drank is small amounts consistently for a fast counter. They should be followed up by longer acting sugars found in items like bread of fruits.
People who suffer from very low blood sugar may have problems with seizures, blurred vision, confusion or even loss consciousness. It’s not just diabetics that need to be careful. Many other issues can also cause the problems. It’s crucial to check with a doctor if anyone feels they have been having episodes of low blood sugar.
If someone finds that their blood sugar is too high, the quickest option to lower it is to engage in exercise. Intense cardiovascular exercise is the quickest way to lower blood sugar in the short term. If the goal is only to lower it slightly, then a brisk 30-45 minute walk can do the trick as well.
The other option is to receive an injection of hormones to reduce blood sugar in the short term. It’s important to note that if someone’s blood sugar is consistently high, it’s going to need to be a sustained effort to get baseline levels of blood sugars down to manageable levels. Otherwise, the short term lowering won’t really be useful.
