Blood glucose level, a measurement of the amount of sugar in your blood, must be maintained within a healthy range to prevent serious illness. While abnormally high blood glucose may indicate you're suffering from diabetes, a sharp drop in blood sugar levels can cause hypoglycemia. If you've been told that you are at an increased risk of developing diabetes, see your doctor often so that your blood sugar levels can be monitored.
Significance of Glucose
Your body derives the energy it needs to function from the foods you eat. In "The Teen Health Book," authors Ralph I. Lopez and Kate Kelly explain that the human digestive process converts all food into glucose, although the rate of transformation varies according to the type of food being converted. While table sugar breaks down quickly, providing a sharp but short-lasting upsurge in blood glucose levels, other foods, such as pasta and rice, take longer to break down and thus provide a slower, steadier source of energy for the body.
Normal Glucose Levels
Glucose levels fluctuate over the course of 24 hours, dropping back several hours after your last meal and moving higher shortly after you've eaten. Thus, medical professionals specify ranges that define normal blood glucose levels both before and after eating. Dr. Edward S. Horton of Harvard Medical School's Joslin Diabetes Center says that a typical blood glucose range for a healthy individual would be 70 to 100 mg/dL before meals and no higher than 135 to 140 mg/dL after eating. Meal size and activity level can influence blood glucose levels to some degree, according to MedlinePlus.
Monitoring Glucose Levels
If you have been diagnosed with diabetes, your doctor has probably instructed you to track your blood glucose levels closely with a personal monitor called a glucometer. Nondiabetics depend largely on periodic testing at the doctor's office to gauge the level of sugar in their blood. Your physician will take a blood or urine sample, usually after a minimum of eight hours of fasting, and send it to the lab so that your glucose level can be determined. If there is strong reason to suspect diabetes, your doctor may order an oral glucose tolerance test, which can show how efficiently your body responds to glucose.
Diabetes
The American Diabetes Association estimates that nearly 24 million Americans--nearly 8 percent of the population--suffer from diabetes, a disease characterized by abnormally high levels of glucose in the blood. Type 1 diabetes, most often diagnosed in children and young adult, accounts for only 5 to 10 percent of all cases, while type 2 accounts for the vast majority of all diabetes diagnoses. The ADA explains that in type 2 of the disease, the body either produces insufficient quantities of insulin, needed to break down glucose, or the body's cells fail to respond to insulin normally.
Hypoglycemia
When blood sugar levels fall too low, a condition called hypoglycemia occurs. Diabetics may suffer from periodic bouts of hypoglycemia, most notably when too much insulin has been taken, dropping blood sugar levels dramatically. It occurs in nondiabetics as well, according to MayoClinic.com. Typical symptoms include anxiety, confusion, inability to concentrate, sweating, visual disturbances, heart palpitations and hunger.
References
- "The Teen Health Book"; Ralph I. Lopez and Kate Kelly; 2003
- ABC News/Health: What Is the Normal Range For Blood Sugar Levels, and What Blood Sugar Level Constitutes a True Emergency?
- MedlinePlus: Blood Glucose Monitoring
- MayoClinic.com: Hypoglycemia
