The amount of the blood sugar (glucose) is also known as blood glucose level Or serum glucose level. Under the normal circumstances, glucose level stays between 4 and 8 mmol/l (millimoles per liter). There are some daily oscillations, and the blood glucose is at the lowest in the morning, just after waking up and at the highest point after the meals.
People suffering from diabetes mellitus (heightened blood sugar) don’t fall into the normal blood sugar levels, and their blood glucose is much higher. These patients are advised to regularly check their blood glucose level and maintain it as normal as they possibly can.
Untreated high levels of blood glucose could cause complications in diabetic patients after some time. It takes about 10 years of untreated heightened blood sugar to affect the human organism, but the effects are devastating. Complications might include problems with the eyes, nerves, kidneys and also cerebrovascular and heart issues. These issues should not be taken lightly, since they can have serious consequences, such as blindness, gangrene and amputation, kidney and heart failure, hypertension (high blood pressure), heart attack, or stroke.
Measure Blood Sugar
There are some home kits that will enable you to quickly test your glucose level. All of these kits have two parts: one is the strip and the other is the device for measuring the glucose. Usually, it takes a drop of your blood, taken by a really small surgical knife (lancelet). The drop should be placed on the strip and a strip then put into the device. After a few seconds, the measuring device will display the level of glucose in your blood. Consult the pharmacist about the blood sugar kit suitable for you.
Always measure the glucose level if you don’t feel too well. Patients suffering from diabetes are advised to measure the blood sugar once every day. Doctors also recommend doing a 24-hour profile couple times a week for these patients.
The Results
If you measure the glucose level before the meal, it should be around 4 to 7 mmol/l. 30 minutes after the meal, normal value for the blood sugar is about 10 mmol/l and before the bedtime it is expected to have around 8 mmol/l of glucose in the blood.
If your blood sugar level is too high or too low at bedtime, it might mean that you should consult your doctor. Maybe you need to change your diet or the dose of the insulin you have been taking.
Additional Tests
If you are suffering from diabetes type 1 you might also be advised to use urine strips, to check the ketone bodies in the urine.
Another test is the glycated hemoglobin test (HbA1c), which shows the levels of the glucose in the blood of the patient for the last month or two. The normal amount of glycated hemoglobin is about 7%, while everything above 10% can’t be tolerated.
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