Facts on Hyperglycemia Symptoms

1. Unusual Hunger

There's nothing wrong with having a good appetite--unless there's no reason for your hunger. One of the top three symptoms of hyperglycemia or high blood sugar is an unrelenting appetite. Hyperglycemia causes the sensation of hunger because the body is literally starving in the presence of plenty of fuel. In the case of type II diabetes, there is plenty of glucose circulating in the bloodstream but the cells can't use it. Due to an anomaly called "insulin insensitivity" the muscles, liver and other cells of the body cannot absorb and use glucose. So, the brain and other tissues send signals to the body that it is hungry and needs more food. The more you eat, the worse the condition becomes.

2. Unquenchable Thirst and Frequent Urination

Along with being constantly hungry, diabetics with hyperglycemia experience "polydipsia" or the need to drink copious amounts of fluids and "polyuria" or the need to constantly urinate. Polyuria is part of a vicious cycle that plagues diabetics: they're constantly hungry and dehydrated, but the more they eat and drink, the more their disease spirals out of control. During unregulated diabetes, the body switches from glucose to fat as the primary energy supply. Byproducts of consuming large quantities of fat are "ketones." To avoid accumulating harmful acid--a state called "ketosis"--the body attempts to rid itself of ketones through constant urination. The only way to reverse this anomaly is to introduce insulin to help the body properly absorb glucose.

3. Insulin as the Major Culprit

For most healthy people, the rise and fall of blood glucose is a normal occurrence and averages between 60 to 110 mg/dL (milligrams per deciliter). Prior to a meal, glucose levels are often low. An hour after a meal, glucose levels may be temporarily high. Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas whose principal role is to regulate the concentration of glucose in the blood and its absorption into the cells of the body--primarily the muscles, liver and brain. Type I and type II diabetics suffer from a variety of abnormalities that begin with either a deficiency of insulin or the way that it fails to regulate blood glucose uptake by the cells of the body.

4. Rapid Weight Loss

While weight loss is one of the best ways to manage newly diagnosed cases of type II diabetes, rapid weight loss may be a signal there's something wrong with the diabetic's metabolism. Unregulated diabetics find themselves in a quandary: they have plenty of fuel available but their body is literally starving. The problem centers around the cells' inability to process circulating glucose due to either insulin deficiency or insensitivity. In either case, the muscles, liver and brain fail to get the energy they need which causes other symptoms. If left unchecked, permanent damage to the nervous and circulatory systems may result leading to blindness, damage to nerves and loss of limbs.

5. The Silent Symptoms of Hyperglycemia

Even people who are not diabetic understand the primary symptoms of diabetes: uncontrolled hunger, thirst and rapid weight loss. But, what they probably don't know is that diabetes that's left untreated can be responsible for a whole host of other symptoms that include kidney failure, blindness, heart disease and even the loss of limbs. As the most finely tuned machine known to man, your body depends on a well-regulated equation of supply and demand. When one side veers off course, it begins a cascading chain of events as the body attempts to regulate itself. Many of these symptoms are called "silent symptoms" because they can exist for years before you're aware of them. The best (and sometimes only) way to make sure that your body is in tip top shape is by getting an annual physical examination from your family physician.