Diabetes is the medical term used to describe high blood sugar or high blood glucose. In order to understand the safety, side effects and consequences of high blood sugar in your blood work, it is important to also understand how blood sugar is used in the body and how your blood sugar rises. Blood sugar levels are dependent on several factors, and those factors also help to determine how safe rising levels may be in your individual circumstances.
What is High Blood Sugar?
The terms high blood sugar and diabetes are interchangeable. According to the Virginia Mason Medical Center, your blood sugar levels will normally fluctuate throughout the day. They depend mostly upon what has been eaten and how much energy you have expended. You blood sugar is considered above normal when it is over 126 mg/dL after eight hours of fasting or if it is near 200 mg/dL after a random test during the day, without fasting. These measurements tell the physician exactly how much glucose is in your bloodstream, unused by the cells, for every deciliter of blood.
Reason for Blood Sugar
Normally, blood sugar or glucose is used by the cells to produce energy. Your body manufactures insulin from the pancreas which is used to transport glucose from the bloodstream into the cells to be used for energy, according to Colorado State University. When you high blood sugar or diabetes, your blood sugar levels with fluctuate more frequently than if you do not suffer from diabetes, according to Diabetes.co.uk. These fluctuations in blood glucose levels will increase your risks of suffering from complications.
Causes of High Blood Sugar
You blood sugar will rise when you eat more food than you have insulin in your body that will take care of it, when you are ill or have an infection, if you are injured or having surgery or if you are under emotional stress, according to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. When you suffer from diabetes your blood sugar can also rise early in the mornings because of an effect called the Dawn phenomenon or the Somogyi effect, according to the Cleveland Clinic. The Dawn phenomenon occurs when you night time insulin dose has worn off and your body is producing glucose to take care of getting up in the morning. The Somogyi effect occurs when you have had too much insulin the night before or didn't have enough of a bedtime snack.
Negative Effects of High Blood Sugar
Blood sugar will fluctuate during the day and night when you suffer from diabetes. If high blood sugar is left untreated it can result in serious life-threatening medical complications, according to the American Diabetes Association. Ketoacidosis from too much blood glucose can lead to a diabetic coma and death. When blood sugar does not stay within normal limits it can also lead to complications, such as neuropathy, eye damage, kidney damage and cardiovascular disease, according to Diabetes.co.uk. These negative consequences are often the result of years of poorly controlled blood sugar values.
References
- Virginia Mason Medical Center: What are Normal Blood Glucose Levels?
- Colorado State University: Physiological Effects of Insulin
- Diabetes.co.uk: Diabetes and Blood Glucose
- University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics: Hyperglycemia (High Blood Sugar)
- Cleveland Clinic: What Causes High Blood Sugar Levels in the Morning
- American Diabetes Association: Hyperglycemia
