What Should Ones Sugar Level Be

Normal And Diabetic Blood Sugar Ranges

For the majority of healthy individuals, normal blood sugar levels are as follows:

• Between 4.0 to 5.4 mmol/L when fasting
• Up to 7.8 mmol/L 2 hours after eating

For people with diabetes, blood sugar level targets are as follows:

• Before meals : 4 to 7 mmol/L for people with type 1 or type 2 diabetes
• After meals : under 9 mmol/L for people with type 1 diabetes and under 8.5mmol/L for people with type 2 diabetes

High Blood Sugar: Hidden Dangers

In the short term, high blood sugar levels can zap your energy, cause excessive thirst and urination, and blur your vision. High blood sugar levels can also lead to dehydration, dry and itchy skin, and infections. Minimizing the time spent above your target blood sugar range can help you feel your best and will help prevent complications and injury to your body.

Over time, high blood sugar affects many parts of the body. Chronic high blood sugar can start to cause noticeable changes, including:

• Memory problems
• Vision problems like blurriness, diabetic retinopathy, and blindness
• Gum disease that leads to tooth loss, which can make eating healthy foods difficult due to problems chewing
• Heart attack and stroke due to increased plaque build-up in the vessels and other vascular issues
• Kidney disease, which can lead to the need for dialysis or a kidney transplant
• Nerve damage that can cause decreased sensation in the feet and legs which increases the risk for wounds to turn into serious infections and even amputation

Nerve damage from high blood sugar can also cause a variety of symptoms including:

• Pain and tingling in the feet and hands
• Difficulty emptying your bladder
• Problems during the digestion process after eating, which can cause food to sit in the stomach too long and lead to nausea, vomiting, and erratic blood sugar levels

Checking your blood sugar frequently and taking immediate action when it is above range can reduce your risk of complications.

How To Avoid Diabetic Ketoacidosis

It might have been a really long time since youve been in diabetic ketoacidosis , or maybe youve never had it.

But if you have Type 1 diabetes, you are at risk. Sometimes when you havent recently experienced a situation, you kind of forget about what you were told to do for prevention or treatment. Thats why a refresher might be a great idea!

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Official Fasting Blood Sugar Ada Recommendation For Someone With Diabetes

The American Diabetes Association recommends a fasting blood sugar target of 80 to 130 mg/dl for most nonpregnant adults with diabetes. However, the fasting blood sugar target may need to be individualized for certain people based on such factors as duration of diabetes, age and life expectancy, cognitive status, other health conditions, cardiovascular complications, and hypoglycemia unawareness. Its important that people with diabetes discuss their target blood sugar goals with their healthcare provider.

Maintain A Healthy Weight

Eating a balanced diet and exercising can help you lose or maintain weight. Ask your doctor what a healthy weight is for you.

Work with them to determine how many calories you should be eating. If you need to lose weight, ask them how much weight you should be losing per week to stay healthy.

Crash diets and extreme workout plans may make for entertaining television, but they arent realistic for long-term maintenance. Theyre often unhealthy as well.

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How To Stay In Target

Eating healthy, exercising and taking medication, if necessary, will help you keep your blood sugar levels within their target range. Target ranges for blood sugar can vary depending on your age, medical condition and other risk factors.

Targets are different for pregnant women, older adults and children 12 years of age and under.

When Should I Check My Blood Glucose Level

When you should check your blood glucose levels and how often you should check varies depending on each individual, the type of diabetes and the tablets and/or insulin being used. Your doctor or Credentialled Diabetes Educator will help you decide how many checks are needed and the levels to aim for. Possible times to check are:

• Before breakfast
• Before rigorous exercise
• When you are feeling unwell

Even though your meter may have a memory, it is important to keep a record of your readings in a diary and to take this with you to all appointments with your diabetes health team. This will provide both you and your diabetes health team with important information in deciding if and how your treatment may need to be adjusted.

Most meters on the market have software which allows you to download your records in different formats such as graphs and charts. Even if you can do this, it is still helpful to keep a diary, not only for your checks but also details of your daily activities, the food you eat and other relevant information. There are some apps that record all of this information in one place. Ask your doctor or diabetes educator how you can use a diary to help you to better manage your diabetes.

Checking four times a day is usually recommended for people with type 1 diabetes. However many people check more often, such as those using an insulin pump .

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What If The Blood Glucose Check Result Doesnt Sound Right

If youre not convinced that a result is correct, heres a suggested check list:

• Have the strips expired?
• Is the meter too hot or too cold?
• Is the calibration code correct?
• Is the battery low or flat?

All meters will give a different result with a different drop of blood. As long as there is not a big difference there is not usually cause for concern.

The accuracy of all meters can be checked with meter-specific liquid drops called control solutions. If you are concerned, you can arrange to have your meter checked with a control solution. Your Credentialled Diabetes Educator or pharmacist can help you with this.

What Are Blood Sugar Levels

Blood sugar levels, also known as blood glucose level, is the level of sugar/glucose present in the blood. Glucose is a simple version of sugar which comes from the food we eat. Therefore, the more food you consume with high sugar levels over a period of time, will typically increase your blood sugar level.

Glucose comes from the foods we eat and its sugar content. When a person consumes a food with high sugar content, that is turned into glucose. The glucose is then absorbed into the bloodstream with the support of insulin. This is then distributed between the bodys cells and used as energy.

Foods high in glucose include most carbohydrates and a handful of proteins and fats. Most foods contain glucose as it is simply a natural sugar that occurs in most dietary forms. However, it is carbohydrates that contain the most sugar and 100% of it turns into glucose, through the process mentioned above, once consumed. The concentration of glucose present in the blood will determine your blood sugar level.

Here is a quick video explaining Blood sugar levels chart :

Your blood sugar level can either be low, normal or high. Depending on what you eat and health conditions, it will vary from person to person. Here is a breakdown of how your blood sugar works and how low or high blood sugar levels happens:

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Oral Glucose Tolerance Test

The oral glucose tolerance test takes a little more time than the other two glucose tests for diabetes. In this test, your blood is taken after an overnight fast, and then again two hours after you drink a sugary drink.

Its normal for blood sugar to rise after the drink. Normal blood sugar falls to below 140 mg/dL within two hours, however.

If your blood sugar is between 140 and 199 mg/dL, your doctor will diagnose prediabetes. Anything 200 mg/dL or above is diagnostic for type 2 diabetes.

• dairy

You should have healthy fats each day as well.

Using the information from your food log, you can begin to make small changes. The goal is to choose less processed, whole foods, instead of highly processed foods that contain added sugar, little fiber, and unhealthy fats.

For example, if you arent eating the recommended servings of vegetables, try adding one serving of vegetables a day to your diet.

You can do this by having a salad with lunch or dinner, or snacking on carrot sticks. Just be careful about add-ons such as salad dressing or dips. They can sneak in unhealthy fats or extra calories. Check out these 10 healthy salad dressing recipes.

Youll also want to work on reducing the number of empty-calorie foods and beverages youre consuming, as well as switching out simple carbohydrate foods for complex carbohydrates. Examples of substitutions you can try to include:

How To Treat Low Blood Sugar

If you think you have low blood sugar, be sure to check it.

Keeping your blood sugar levels on target as much as possible can help prevent or delay long-term, serious health problems. While this is important, closely managing your blood sugar levels also increases your chance for low blood sugar . Blood sugar below 70 mg/dL is considered low. If you think you have low blood sugar, check it. If you arent able to check it, go ahead and treat it.

Untreated low blood sugar can be dangerous, so its important to know what to do about it and to treat it immediately.

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Are Low Blood Sugar Levels Dangerous

Yes, low blood sugar symptoms can cause problems such as hunger, nervousness, perspiration, dizziness and even confusion if untreated, low blood sugar may result in unconsciousness, seizures, coma, or death. Low blood sugar levels begin at 70 mg/dL or less. People with diabetes who take too much medication or take their usual amount but then eat less or exercise more than usual can develop hypoglycemia. Although much rarer, hypoglycemia may develop in some people without diabetes when they take someone elses medication, have excessive alcohol consumption, develop severe hepatitis, or develop a rare tumor of the pancreas . The treatment for hypoglycemia is oral glucose intake (15. 0 grams of sugar, for example, 1 tablespoon of sugar, honey, corn syrup, or IV fluids containing glucose. Recheck your blood sugar levels in about 15 minutes after treatment is advised.

Normal Range For Blood Sugar Two Hours After Eating

Your blood glucose levels can determine whether you have or are at risk for developing diabetes, a condition in which your body no longer effectively processes and absorbs glucose from the bloodstream. Blood glucose levels fluctuate during the day, particularly after meals. Postprandial — which means after eating — glucose levels that rise beyond a certain level may mean you have diabetes or prediabetes. However, two-hour postprandial blood sugar testing is not recommended to screen for or diagnose diabetes. Video of the Day Two to 3 hours after eating a meal, blood glucose levels typically fall to normal fasting levels. For people without diabetes, this is typically 125 mg/dL or less, according to criteria established by the American Diabetes Association. If your 2-hour postprandial blood glucose level is higher than 125 mg/dL, your doctor will likely order one of the ADA-recommended blood tests for diagnosing diabetes. The options include a hemoglobin A1c test and an oral glucose tolerance test. Before developing type 2 diabetes, many people go through a phase called “prediabetes.” With this condition, postprandial blood sugar levels are typically abnormally high — but not elevated enough to meet the criteria for a diagnosis of diabetes. Modest weight loss, increased physical activity and dietary changes can often prevent prediabetes from progressing to type 2 diabetes.Continue reading > >

• Blood Sugar Throughout the Day – for Normal People and Those with Diabetes

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Cgm Studies In Nondiabetic Individuals

One study from 2009 entitled Reference Values for Continuous Glucose Monitoring in Chinese Subjects looked at the glucose levels of 434 healthy adults using CGM and found the following:

• On average, their daily glucose levels stayed between 70140 mg/dl for 93% of the day, with very small portions of the day spent above 140 mg/dl or below 70 mg/dl.
• Also, their mean 24-hour glucose levels were around 104 mg/dl
• 1-hour post-meal glucose values average 121-123 mg/dl for breakfast, lunch, and dinner
• 3-hour post-meal glucose values were around 97-114 mg/dl.
• Peak post-meal values appeared to be around 60 minutes after eating.
• Mean fasting glucose was 86 ± 7 mg/dl.
• Mean daytime glucose was 106 ± 11 mg/dl.
• Mean nighttime glucose was 99 ± 11 mg/dl.

A 2010 study, Variation of Interstitial Glucose Measurements Assessed by Continuous Glucose Monitors in Healthy, Nondiabetic Individuals, looked at a healthy population of 74 individuals that included children, adolescents, and adults during daily living using CGM. This research showed that:

• Glucose levels stayed between 71-120 mg/dl for 91% of the day.
• Levels were lower than 70 mg/dl for 1.7% of the time and greater than 140 mg/dl, only 0.4% of the time.
• Mean 24-hour glucose was 98 ± 10 mg/dl.
• Mean fasting glucose of 86 ± 8 mg/dl.

Compared to the first study mentioned, these healthy, nondiabetic individuals appeared to have a tighter range of glucose, spending the vast majority of the 24-hour period between 71-120 mg/dl.

When To Seek Medical Care For High Blood Sugar

If hyperglycemia persists for at least two or three days, or if ketones appear in the urine, call a doctor.

Generally, people with diabetes should test their blood sugar levels at least four times a day: before meals and at bedtime . The urine should be checked for ketones any time the blood sugar level is over 250 mg/dL.

When blood sugar stays high despite following a diabetic diet and plan of care, call the nurse, diabetes health educator, or physician for adjustments in the diet.

If blood sugars are high because of illness, check for ketones and contact a health professional.

Seek immediate medical care for these conditions:

• Vomiting
• Blood sugar levels that stay above 160 mg/dL for longer than a week
• Glucose readings higher than 300 mg/dL
• The presence of ketones in the urine

Ketoacidosis or diabetic coma is a medical emergency. Call 911 for emergency transport to a hospital or similar emergency center.

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High Blood Sugar Level Causes

Several types of diabetes and medical conditions are the primary cause of high blood sugar levels. Most of which are unpreventable issues but are the reason for a spike in high blood sugar. The causes for high blood sugar levels are as follows:

Causes of low blood sugar levels are very different and are as important to be aware of, as they are in fact easier to control.

What Is Considered A Normal Blood Sugar Level

• How to maintain a healthy blood sugar level

The normal blood sugar level for a healthy adult should be less than 126 mg/dL or 6 mmol/L before fasting and meals, and below 200mg/dL two hours after meals.

If you are diabetic, then you should consult with your doctor in order for appropriate blood sugar level targets to be set based on the severity of your condition, medications taken and overall health status.

The below information describes what normal blood sugar levels are prior to and after meals and what the recommended HbA1c levels are for those with and without diabetes.

A HbA1c test determines your average level of blood glucose over the past two to three months. Red blood cells have a lifespan of roughly three months, and a HbA1c blood test measures the amount of glucose that has bound to them during this period.

A blood test to determine Haemoglobin A1c levels is often performed in those who have diabetes. These levels are a reflection of how well diabetes is being controlled.

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Best Ways To Lower Blood Sugar Quickly

When treated early, you can bring high blood sugar levels down and prevent complications, including DKA.

Some sources suggest that drinking water or eating a high protein snack can quickly lower your blood sugar levels, though there isnt enough research to support this.

If you have high blood sugar and need to lower it fast, try the following methods:

Hba1c Test For Diabetes Diagnosis

An HbA1c test does not directly measure the level of blood glucose, however, the result of the test is influenced by how high or low your blood glucose levels have tended to be over a period of 2 to 3 months.

Indications of diabetes or prediabetes are given under the following conditions:

• Normal: Below 42 mmol/mol
• Prediabetes: 42 to 47 mmol/mol
• Diabetes: 48 mmol/mol

There are two types of blood sugar levels that may be measured. The first is the blood glucose level we get from doing finger prick blood glucose tests. These give us a reading of how high our levels are at that very point in time.

The second is the HbA1c reading, which gives a good idea of our average control over a period of 2 to 3 months. The target blood glucose levels vary a little bit depending on your type of diabetes and between adults and children.

Where possible, try to achieve levels of between 4 and 7 mmol/L before meals and under 8.5 mmol/L after meals. The target level for HbA1c is under 48 mmol/mol .

Research has shown that high blood glucose levels over time can lead to organ and circulation damage.

Keeping blood glucose above 4 mmol/l for people on insulin or certain medications for type 2 diabetes is important to prevent hypos occurring, which can be dangerous.

Your doctor may give you different targets. Children, older people and those at particular risk of hypoglycemia may be given wider targets.

FREE blood glucose level chart

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