Imagine having to monitor everything that you eat, drink and do during each day. When you have diabetes, something as simple as drinking a cup of orange juice must be thought about. Everything that you put into your body has some kind of influence on blood glucose. The first step in managing your diabetes is to understand the ranges of your blood glucose.
Types
There are two main types of diabetes, both of which involve a malfunction in the mechanism by which glucose is moved from the blood stream into the muscles that need it. Type 1 diabetes is characterized by the body's inability to produce insulin. Insulin is the primary way that glucose is transported into cells. Type 2 diabetes develops over time and occurs from the body's cells becoming resistant to insulin. Over time, the body may become unable to make insulin as well.
Diagnosis
Diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes involves identifiying antibody markers in the blood, since this type of diabetes is not developed but inherited. Type 2 diabetes, however, is diagnosed with your body's response to a fasting oral glucose tolerance test. This test involves drinking a thick, sugary drink, then having blood drawn two hours later. The test analyzes your body's ability to clear glucose from the blood. A normal glucose test should be less than 140 mg/dL or lower. An impaired glucose tolerance ranges from 140 mg/dl to 200 mg/dL, while a diagnosis of diabetes is greater than 200 mg/dL.
Blood Glucose Monitoring
Anyone who has been given a diagnosis of diabetes, whether it be Type 1 or 2, should monitor their blood glucose. It is recommended that glucose be checked various times of the day including before breakfast, after a meal and before bed. Before a meal your blood glucose should range anywhere from 70 to 130 mg/dL. After a meal, blood glucose should be less than or equal to 180 mg/dL. Your glucose before going to bed at night should be between 100 to 140 mg/dL.
Considerations
Anything new that you do elicits a blood glucose check as well. If you are unfamiliar with how your body will respond to a new food or physical activity, you should take your blood sugar both before and after to see how your body reacts. Exercising with a blood glucose outside of the normal range can be dangerous. If you exercise with either a high or low blood sugar, it can worsen with physical activity.
Symptoms
If you are diabetic, you should know the signs and symptoms of an unhealthy blood sugar. Hypoglycemia is a low blood sugar. Symptoms of this include a blood glucose of less than 80 mg/dL, crying, moodiness, fatigue, tremors, faintness, sweating, dizziness, excessive hunger, blurred vision, confusion, delusion, loss of consciousness, convulsions, headache, slurred speech and poor coordination. Hyperglycemia is an elevated blood sugar of greater than 300 mg/dL. Symptoms of this include weakness, increased thirst, dry mouth, soft eyeballs, frequent urination, decreased appetite, vomiting, nausea, abdominal tenderness and acetone breath.
References
- "Cecil Essentials of Medicine"; Thomas Andreoli, MD, Charles C. Carpenter,MD, Robert C. Griggs, MD, Joseph Loscalzo, MD, (Eds.); 2004
- American Diabetes Association: Checking Your Blood Glucose
- "ACSM's Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription"; Mithcell H. Whaley, PhD, Peter H. Brubaker, Phd, Robert M. Otto, Phd (Eds.), 2006.
