Blood sugar is a common term that pertains to the level of glucose, a type of sugar, in the blood. Glucose is the sugar needed and used by the body for energy for metabolism and for the brain to function properly. Food components such as some kinds of sugar and carbohydrates are converted by the body into glucose.
However, the body can regulate the blood sugar level in the blood through hormones. One kind lowers it and another increases it. An anabolic hormone decreases the level of glucose. We know this hormone as insulin, which is produced by the pancreas. The catabolic hormones raise glucose levels in the blood. Examples of this kind of hormone are the growth hormone, cortisol, and glucagon.
Blood sugar levels are relative. The normal levels for a normal non-diabetic person can be too low for a diabetic to achieve. Therefore, a diabetic’s normal level may be much too high for a normal person to have. The normal levels for a non-diabetic can range from 70 to 110 mg/dL. Shortly after eating a meal, it is understandable for the glucose levels to rise to more or less 125 mg/dL and then fall back into the normal range. For people with diabetes, their normal range is from 90 to 130 mg/dL. After meals, below 180 mg/dL is still acceptable.
What happens when the glucose levels exceed or do not meet the normal ranges? An excess of sugar in the blood is called hyperglycemia, which has a level of 109 mg/dL after an 8-hour fasting. A level of below 70 to 60 mg/dL is called hypoglycemia, which is relatively more dangerous than having an excess of sugar in the blood. Remember that the body and brain need glucose to function properly, and lack of that for more than a few hours can impair bodily and cognitive functions and can even result to death.
Here is how we measure blood sugar levels. There are different kinds of tests which have different ranges for normal levels. There is the fasting blood sugar test (FBS), where a person refrains from taking in anything for 8 hours before having the blood tested. Normal levels for this test are 70-99 mg/dL. We now know that sugar levels considerably increase after meals, which have to fall back down at about two hours after. So we also have the post-prandial test, which measures the blood glucose levels two hours following a meal. The normal levels for this are under 120 mg/dL. The RBS, or random blood sugar test, is also known as the casual blood glucose test. This is taken several times throughout the day without the need for fasting. Normal blood glucose levels do not differ widely, so this is important to know the average range or if there are abnormal fluctuations. Be careful not to smoke and/or drink alcohol or caffeine when you know that you have to take a glucose test.
There are situations that cause a blood glucose level to stay high or low for a person. Hyperglycemia is caused by infections, stress, taking medicines that produce catabolic hormones, and chronic conditions such as an overproduction of hormones, and diabetes. Hypoglycemia, on the other hand is caused by not taking in food, kidney failure, liver disease, and malnutrition.
It is important for everybody to watch out symptoms such as drowsiness, lethargy, blurry vision, dehydration, and fungal infections. These could be related to either hyper- or hypoglycemia. These conditions do not always point to diabetes, but could be coupled with other symptoms to determine other chronic illnesses like liver and heart disease and possibly eating disorders.
Jerrold Tanner is a medical researcher who writes in his free time to help others. He owns and maintains Blood Sugar Tips, a resource for maintaining Normal Blood Sugar and managing your Diabetes.