Blood sugar – what level is considered normal? Blood sugar
Many people, having discovered their blood sugar 6.0 mmol / L or higher, panic, mistakenly believing that they have started diabetes. In fact, if you donated blood from a finger to an empty stomach, then a sugar level of 5.6-6.6 mmol / L does not mean the onset of diabetes, but only indicates a violation of insulin sensitivity or glucose tolerance. Doctors diagnose diabetes with an indicator above 6.7 mmol / L on an empty stomach, and if the analysis is taken after a meal, then a level of 5.6 – 6.6 mmol / L is considered normal.
A sugar level of 3.6-5.8 mmol / L is normal for a healthy person of working age. If the level of sugar in the blood donated to an empty stomach is in the range of 6.1-6.7 mmol / l , then this suggests that in the future you need to change your usual lifestyle. In order to prevent an increase in blood sugar, from now on you definitely need to eat properly, devote more time to rest, exercise at least 30 minutes a day and maintain optimal body weight.
The norm of blood sugar in children under five years old differs from the norm for adults. Children aged up to one year is considered to be normal levels of sugar in the blood 2,8-4,4 mmol / l , from one year to five years – 3,3-5,0 mmol / l . In children over five years old, the blood sugar norm is almost the same as in adults. If the child has an indicator above 6.1 mmol / l, then it is necessary to re-take the tests and eliminate the risk of the onset of diabetes.
To date, there are no methods and drugs to cure diabetes mellitus, since science does not yet know how to restore or replace the cells responsible for the production of insulin, a hormone produced in the pancreas and lowering blood sugar. In cases of impaired insulin production, the first type of diabetes develops in the body, and in the second type of diabetes, insulin is produced normally, but the body does not know how to use it correctly.
In the body, insulin helps sugar get from the blood into the cell, just like the key helps us open the door lock and enter home. When insulin production is impaired, a deficiency occurs and sugar remains in the blood, but it cannot get into the cells and they starve. Therefore, a patient with the first type of diabetes constantly experiences a feeling of hunger. He does not have satiety even after eating. To get rid of hunger and help sugar get into the cells, he has to constantly inject insulin.
There is no prevention of diabetes mellitus of the first type, that is, a person himself can not do anything so that he does not have diabetes. But if you have been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes mellitus or if your family has relatives suffering from this disease, try to temper your children from birth. It is proved that the risk of diabetes mellitus in children with weakened immunity is many times higher than in children involved in sports and rarely suffering from colds.
In the second type of diabetes , a normal amount of insulin is produced in the pancreas, but it is not enough to maintain normal blood sugar levels. In 96%, this is due to the fact that a person regularly overeats and is overweight. The second type of diabetes can be prevented if its prevention is carried out in time. If one of the parents or relatives suffered from type 2 diabetes, then make sure that the child does not develop obesity.
From the age of 10 , regularly check your child’s blood sugar, because in recent years type 2 diabetes has become very young, and today it is often diagnosed in children older than this age.
A blood test for sugar is done on an empty stomach, that is, you can not drink or eat anything for 8-10 hours before giving it. If you drink tea or eat food before taking a blood test, then the sugar indicators will be higher than normal. In addition, recently transmitted infectious disease and stress can affect the accuracy of a result. Therefore, immediately after the disease, it is better not to donate blood for sugar, and you should have a good night’s sleep before the analysis.
The first symptoms of diabetes are constant thirst, frequent urination and fatigue. The reason for this is that the blood sugar level is the content of glucose in it, which provides energy to all organs and tissues. With an increase in blood sugar, our kidneys try to remove it from the body and begin to excrete it in the urine. But sugar can be removed from the body only with the liquid in which it is dissolved. Therefore, along with sugar excreted in urine, a certain amount of water leaves the body and a person experiences constant thirst.
The more sugar excreted in the urine, the more fluid is excreted from the body, the less energy the cells receive, as a result of which a person wants to drink, sleep and eat constantly.
With a strong increase in blood sugar , the symptoms of the disease increase: ketone bodies increase in the blood, which leads to severe dehydration and a decrease in blood pressure. When the sugar level is greater than 33 mmol / L, hyperglycemic coma may occur, and with values above 55 mmol / L, a hypermolar coma develops. Complications of these comas are very serious – from acute renal failure to deep vein thrombosis. With hypersmolar coma, mortality reaches 50%.