newsprompt.coBLOOD SUGAR MONITOR
What Is a Normal Blood Sugar Level?
The aim of diabetes treatment is to bring blood sugar (“glucose”) as close to normal as possible. What is a normal blood sugar level? And how can you achieve normal blood sugar?
First, what is the difference between “sugar” and “glucose”? Sugar is the general name for sweet carbohydrates that dissolve in water. “Carbohydrate” means a food made only of carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen.
There are various different kinds of sugars. The one our body uses most is called “glucose.” Other sugars we eat, like fructose from fruit or lactose from milk, are converted into glucose in our bodies. Then we can use them for energy. Our bodies also break down starches, which are sugars stuck together, into glucose.
When people talk about “blood sugar,” they mean “blood glucose.” The two terms mean the same thing.
In the U.S., blood sugar is normally measured in milligrams of glucose per deciliter of blood (mg/dl). A milligram is very little, about 0.00018 of a teaspoon. A deciliter is about 3 1/3 ounces.
In Canada and the United Kingdom, blood sugar is reported in millimoles/liter (mmol/L). You can convert Canadian or British glucose levels to American numbers if you multiply them by 18. This is useful to know if you’re reading comments or studies from England or Canada. If someone reports that their fasting blood glucose was 7, you can multiply that by 18 and get their U.S. glucose level of 126 mg/dl.
What are normal glucose numbers? They vary throughout the day. (Click here for a blood sugar chart.) For someone without diabetes, a fasting blood sugar on awakening should be under 100 mg/dl. Before-meal normal sugars are 70–99 mg/dl. “Postprandial” sugars taken two hours after meals should be less than 140 mg/dl.
Those are the normal numbers for someone without diabetes. If you have diabetes, the American Diabetes Association (ADA) advises keeping your blood sugar levels before meals from 80–130 mg/dl and your levels 1–2 hours after meals under 180. Many people with diabetes and health experts shoot for levels closer to those of people without diabetes, because they are more protective against complications. Lower numbers require more careful diet and more frequent monitoring to prevent lows, but they are doable for many people.
There is also a long-term glucose test called a hemoglobin A1c, HbA1c, or just A1C. This test gives your average reading over the last 2–3 months. HbA1c is expressed as a percentage. Normal for a person without diabetes is below 5.7%. Targets for a person with diabetes recommended by the ADA are 7.0% or lower if you want tight control.
When glucose levels get higher than normal, they start to cause inflammation in blood vessels and nerves. This is where all the complications of diabetes come from. So you don’t want high blood glucose levels.
In people without diabetes, normal insulin function keeps sugars in a normal range. When you have diabetes, insulin function is damaged. You need to give your body conscious help, by eating right, exercising, taking herbs, and reducing stress.
Normal blood glucose numbers
Fasting
Normal for person without diabetes: 70–99 mg/dl (3.9–5.5 mmol/L)
Official ADA recommendation for someone with diabetes: 80–130 mg/dl (4.4–7.2 mmol/L)
2 hours after meals
Normal for person without diabetes: Less than 140 mg/dl (7.8 mmol/L)
Official ADA recommendation for someone with diabetes: Less than 180 mg/dl (10.0 mmol/L)
HbA1c
Normal for person without diabetes: Less than 5.7%
Official ADA recommendation for someone with diabetes: 7.0% or less
Blood Sugar Level Ranges
Blood glucose ranges for adults and children differ slightly
Blood glucose ranges for adults and children differ slightly
Understanding blood glucose level ranges can be a key part of diabetes self-management.
This page states ‘normal’ blood sugar ranges and blood sugar ranges for adults and children with type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes and blood sugar ranges to determine people with diabetes.
If a person with diabetes has a meter, test strips and is testing, it’s important to know what the blood glucose level means.
Recommended blood glucose levels have a degree of interpretation for every individual and you should discuss this with your healthcare team.
In addition, women may be set target blood sugar levels during pregnancy.
The following ranges are guidelines provided by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) but each individual’s target range should be agreed by their diabetic consultant.
Blood sugar levels in diagnosing diabetes:
The following table lays out criteria for diagnoses of diabetes and prediabetes.
Random plasma glucose test
A blood sample for a random plasma glucose test can be taken at any time. This doesn’t require as much planning and is therefore used in the diagnosis of type 1 diabetes when time is of the essence.
Fasting plasma glucose test
A fasting plasma glucose test is taken after at least eight hours of fasting and is therefore usually taken in the morning.
The NICE guidelines regard a fasting plasma glucose result of 6.1 to 6.9 mmol/l as putting someone at higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes, particularly when accompanied by other risk factors for type 2 diabetes.
Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT)
An oral glucose tolerance test involves taking a first taking a fasting sample of blood and then taking a very sweet drink containing 75g of glucose.
After having this drink you need to stay at rest until a further blood sample is taken after 2 hours.
HbA1c test for diabetes diagnosis
An HbA1c test does not directly measure the level of blood glucose, however, the result of the test is influenced by how high or low your blood glucose levels have tended to be over a period of 2 to 3 months.
Indications of diabetes or prediabetes are given under the following conditions:
Normal: Below 42 mmol/mol (6.0%)
Prediabetes: 42 to 47 mmol/mol (6.0 to 6.4%)
Diabetes: 48 mmol/mol (6.5% or over)
Why are good blood sugar levels important?
It is important that you control your blood glucose levels as well as you can as too high sugar levels for long periods of time increases the risk of diabetes complications developing.
Diabetes complications are health problems which include:
-Kidney disease
-Nerve damage
-Retinal disease
-Heart disease
-Stroke
This list of problems may look scary but the main point to note is that the risk of these problems can be minimised through good blood glucose level control. Small improvements can make a big difference if you stay dedicated and maintain those improvements over most days.
