What Are Normal Blood Sugar Levels and High Blood Sugar Symptoms?

Difficulty in maintaining normal blood glucose/sugar levels is a persistent problem among pre-diabetics (people showing some initial symptoms of diabetes) and diabetics. This is especially true among patients who have not been informed about the nature of diabetes and who simply do not understand what normal blood sugar levels are.

In order to help people with diabetes maintain long-term, normal blood glucose levels, it is important to start with the basics. I will begin by answering two very important questions: "What are normal blood sugar levels?" and "What are the high blood sugar symptoms to watch out for?"

Blood glucose levels are basically just numbers which reflect the amount of sugar currently circulating in your body. To keep your body alive and functioning well, you need a certain amount of sugar in your blood. Too much or too little sugar in the body are equally dangerous and will eventually kill you if not corrected. Thankfully, our bodies have multiple, complex mechanisms in place to ensure that we always have normal blood sugar levels.

However, in pre-diabetics and diabetics, this important balancing act of maintaining normal blood glucose levels is disrupted. If this disruption continues and is ignored, our bodies will show high blood glucose symptoms or occasionally low blood glucose symptoms.

But these high blood sugar symptoms are not the most troublesome aspect of disrupting this balancing act. The main problem lies in the many health consequences associated with long-term, higher-than-normal blood glucose levels.

The numbers which reflect normal blood sugar levels are:

These numbers are very important, however they may not mean much to pre-diabetics or diabetics who do not need to do regular blood sugar tests. Also, since most people have never had a blood sugar test, and have no way of knowing whether they have normal blood sugar levels, it is important to watch out for symptoms of diabetes.

 That leads us to the next question: "What are the high blood sugar symptoms to watch out for?"Even if you think you are maintaining a normal blood sugar level, it is important to know what the high blood glucose symptoms are so that you can warn your loved ones who might be at risk of having diabetes. Some common high blood sugar symptoms are

• Urinating more often than usual. Incidentally, the urine is commonly colorless and odorless. Just as a side note, in certain countries, you may even observe ants or other insects crawling to the toilets due to the sweetness of the urine.

• Needing to wake up more than twice nightly to urinate.

• Constantly feeling thirsty and needing to drink more water than usual (and is unrelated to recent increase in physical activity). Patients normally describe this symptom as quite troublesome.

• Having more frequent hunger pangs than usual, assuming you have been eating regularly.

• Feeling tired even after regular sleep.

• Unable to sustain an erection although you were well able to do so in previous years.

• Multiple and recurring infections that you do not normally get, including yeast infections.

• Unexplained or unintentional loss of weight. Loss of weight of more than 5% body weight in 30 days is considered as significant, if it is unrelated to any recent dietary habit changes.

• Having recent new or increased visual problems, such as blurriness or white patches. It is important not to dismiss visual problems as part of a normal aging process.

It is not uncommon for people with high blood glucose levels to present to the hospital with complications or manifestations of long term poor control of their blood glucose levels. It has been estimated that in the United States, as many as 50% of diabetics have some form of complications of diabetes before being diagnosed with diabetes. You will be surprised that there is approximately 30% of people are currently living in the United States without knowing they have diabetes.

If you encounter two or more of these high blood sugar symptoms for a number of weeks and they do not seem to resolve, please be sure to pay your doctor a visit. Even if you have a normal blood sugar level, these symptoms may reflect other metabolic or hormonal diseases.

Furthermore, be sure to advise your friends to go for a medical checkup if they experience these symptoms. Do not be afraid to see the doctor as it is better to catch diabetes early where there is a chance to reverse diabetes and stop all the health diseases associated with established diabetes from progressing.

Bruce Lim is a medical student with special interests in internal medicine and cardiology, whose passions include helping people, internet marketing and reading on health topics such as maintaining normal blood sugar levels.

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What is Normal Blood Sugar and the 3 Ways to Test Your Blood Glucose Level

What is normal blood sugar levels for diabetics can be very different to people that do not suffer from diabetes. People with diabetes mellitus have abnormally higher levels of blood sugar because their bodies are not able to regulate them to the normal levels of 70-110 mg/dL.

There are several tests that measure the amount of glucose in the blood. What is normal blood sugar levels can vary from test to test. Let us take a look at these. One type of test is the fasting blood glucose test. Fasting for at least eight hours is required for this test.

 If not eating or drinking anything for eight hours seems daunting, a good way to achieve this is to take the test after waking up in the morning, provided that you have not eaten anything and have slept for eight hours. The normal blood sugar level for this test is 70-99 mg/dL.

Another test used to measure blood glucose levels is the post prandial test. This test is administered exactly two hours after eating a meal. What is normal blood sugar level for this test is 70-145 mg/dL. A third kind of test is the random or casual blood glucose test. A blood sample is tested several times throughout the day to determine the average level of sugar in the blood. The normal range for this test is 70-125 mg/dL.

There is also such a thing as "high normal" blood sugar levels, when the sugar levels are at the higher end of the range. It is still considered normal, but consistently having the levels at the higher end can raise a cause for concern.

Falling below or above the normal ranges can cause either to these conditions: hyperglycemia is defined as having an excessively high amount of blood sugar, while hypoglycemia is having blood sugar levels that fall slightly or dangerously below the normal ranges.

It is not surprising for diabetics to have normal levels that are slightly higher than the normal range. Hyperglycemia for diabetics is determined when the blood sugar after an eight-hour fast is at 130 mg/dL or more. If using the post-prandial test (two hours after meals), the diabetic's value for hyperglycemia is at more than 180 mg/dL.

Normal people's post-prandial sugar levels are usually below 140 mg/dL. So you see, what is normal blood sugar for non-diabetics widely differs from those for diabetics. Anything below 70 mg/dL is already considered hypoglycemia.

Here are some symptoms to watch out for hyperglycemia. There are times when people do not experience any symptoms at all, which can make it more difficult for people to tell if something is going wrong. Otherwise, having itchy skin even without the presence of irritants can be indicative of high blood sugar.

The development of fungal infections, such as yeast, can also be expected. A lack of appetite and its result of losing weight is a long-term symptom. Having a dry mouth and being unusually thirsty is a common sign, but if you find yourself dehydrated, seek immediate medical attention.

For hypoglycemia, it is more important to identify the symptoms right away, because the lack of glucose in the body can cause the improper functioning of the brain, which handles thinking and most body functions. The worst effect of hypoglycemia can be a coma or even death. Early on, here

Jerrold Tanner is an expert in medical research and has a interest in Diabetes and other blood sugar health issues in Americans today.

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What Are Normal Blood Sugar Levels to Maintain?

Maintaining normal blood sugar levels in the human bloodstream requires a good knowledge of physiological function of the human body. The major source of energy for human body is glucose and it is exactly the sugar that travels through the bloodstream.

The Glucose gets converted as energy when you consume foods containing carbohydrates. The glucose levels are controlled and regulated by the hormonal secretion of insulin in the beta cells of the tissues of the pancreas. That way,the pancreas triggers the the production of insulin which is released into the bloodstream to control blood glucose.

Normal levels of blood glucose usually range from 70 to 140 mg/dl. The glucose level is generally at a lower point during morning before breakfast and rises after consuming food. If the sugar levels rise above 150 mg/dl it is identified as hyperglycemia, one of the signs of high blood sugar. In case the levels fall below 70 mg/dl it is an indication of hypoglycemia or low blood sugar.

 Hypoglycemia is usually observed as a serious or fatal condition of diabetes if left ignored. As such, a few symptoms of low blood glucose are fatigue and unconsciousness at extreme condition. People who suffer with chronic or frequent bouts due to hyperglycemia are liable to develop complications like damage to nerves, kidneys, and loss of vision.

It is essential for persons who suspect symptoms of low or high blood sugar to take blood tests (Pre-prandial and Postprandial) to measure the quantum of glucose deposited in the bloodstream. As mentioned above, the glucose levels should be close to 70mg/dl and 140mg/dl before and after meals respectively.

Physicians who perform testing glucose levels usually suspect and investigate the presence of any complications with diabetes type I or type II. Normal measure of blood sugar in fasting would be safe if it falls between 70 and 100mg/dl. Similarly the postprandial measure should safely be maintained between 130 and 150mg/dl.

Fasting blood sugar test is taken to check the measure of glucose level 8 hours after eating food. The postprandial test is administered 2 hours after consuming food. There is another test called random type in which frequent monitoring of blood glucose levels is done at random intervals throughout the day considering no time intervals and consumption of food.

Normal glucose readings in this test would be safe if they fall between 70 and 120 mg/dl. There is again the oral GTT (Glucose Tolerance Test) that is administered frequently by taking sugary drinks particularly for women during the middle days of pregnancy.

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What Are Normal Blood Sugar Levels For Me?

"What are normal blood sugar levels for me?", you asked. Either in your own or in the company of your personal physician, you constantly put in effort to understand the details of your blood sugar testing. Having a well-based understanding of these results and the associated causes will be a good tool for one to better approach one's medical condition.

If one desires to really find out how well his body digest sugar, blood sugar tests are available for one to undergo and see for himself how he fairs out. These tests are also used for the purpose of diagnosing for pre-diabetes or diabetes - while these are also done to determine how one is managing diabetes.

When asking, "What are normal blood sugar levels that I should aim for?", should be taken in the context of the type of testing that will be employed - and current health condition you have.

Fasting Blood Glucose Test

This involves fasting - no food or liquids other than water - for at least eight hours and then having your blood tested for the amount of sugar. The normal blood sugar level for this test is lower than 100 milligrams per deciliter. If your result is 200 mg/dL and it goes along with symptoms of diabetes - there may be no need for a confirmatory second test to be diagnosed as having diabetes.

Random Blood Sugar Test

As the name of the test implies, it is taken at no specific time. This is taken regardless of when you last ate. The normal blood sugar level for this test is lower than 100 milligrams per deciliter. If your result is 200 mg/dL or higher, it would suggest that you either have Type 1 or Type 2 Diabetes.

Oral Glucose Tolerance Test

In this test, asking, "What are normal blood sugar levels for me?" - will have different answers depending on the stage of this test. First, your fasting blood sugar level will be measured. After which, you will be asked to drink a sugar-water solution, and blood sugar levels will be taken after 60 minutes & after 120 minutes. A blood sugar level that is lower than 140 mg/dL is considered normal after the test. Two hours after, with a 200 mg/dL level, may indicate diabetes.

It is but normal to be constantly asking, "What are normal blood sugar levels for me now?" - precisely because there is a good reason to be very much concerned. If high levels of blood sugar are present for a good number of years already, there will be health risks associated with it.

Among the health risks and complications include kidney disease, nerve disease, eye disease and cardiovascular disease. So never stop asking, "What are normal blood sugar levels for me at this current circumstance and time?" - being consistently conscious about this will pay-off in the future. This is your health after all.

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