Blood sugar

August 18, 8:49 AMNashville Healthy Living ExaminerMegan McInnis

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American Diabetes Association

Many refer to blood sugar today, yet few understand it and its affects on long-term health.

When the doctor pricks a finger, he or she is checking blood sugar. That test reveals the level of milligrams per deciliter of sugar in the blood. Blood sugar is just that – sugar. However, it is not the form of sugar found in soda. When any food is eaten, it is broken down into what the body uses as fuel. That is glucose, commonly called blood sugar.

Depending upon their training, many doctors consider different blood sugar levels to be healthy. Some are conservative, and some are not. Regardless, fasting blood sugar tests are most helpful (opposed to testing the blood sugar level after a sugary snack). According to American Diabetes Association, a guideline for fasting blood sugar levels is:
Diabetic: > 126 mg/dL
Pre-diabetic: 100 – 126 mg/dL
Normal: < 100 mg/dL
Hypoglycemic: < 70 mg/dL

When blood sugar levels are high or low, each person experiences reactions. A few symptoms for low blood sugar are nausea, dizziness, fainting, blurred vision, sleepiness, confusion, depression, tingling, numbness and inability to focus; two common responses to high blood sugar are constant thirst and frequent urination. For certain individuals, some symptoms cross over or they feel no symptoms at all. Over time, each individual learns his or her body’s responses.

A normal person experiences high and low blood sugar levels every day. The normal body easily rectifies itself. However, a person with diabetes or hypoglycemia must determine if he or she has high or low blood sugar and must either take insulin to lower it or eat something to increase it. In extreme cases, consequences can be coma or seizure.

For healthy living, it is important to keep one’s blood sugar as close to normal as possible for a long period of time. Long-term blood sugar levels impact long-term health. If it is consistently high and/or low, it wrecks havoc on the body’s organs. Common consequences to not keeping a normal blood sugar level for a diabetic are blindness or amputation. The long-term blood sugar test is the A1c, which is measured in percentages. It averages how stable the blood sugar levels have been over three months. When the A1c test is taken, the goal for a person with diabetes is 7%.

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