What is considered a High Blood Sugar Level?

Introduction

Managing blood sugar is a critical aspect of diabetes management. The higher the blood sugar levels are, the tougher does the challenge of diabetes treatment and management becomes. Unfortunately, despite the crucial nature of this topic, the awareness level about hyperglycemia(High Blood Sugar Level) is quite low. It is about time more voices discussed this matter! Raising awareness about hyperglycemia is the goal of this discussion as well. Not only do we talk about the dangerous and the normal levels of blood sugar, but we also talk about these levels can be controlled. Lots to learn from this discussion, we can promise you that! 

Hyperglycemia: An Overview

High blood sugar or hyperglycemia is one of the major concerns for all diabetic patients whether they are type 1 or type 2 diabetic. Higher blood sugar levels are bad news because of several reasons. For one, they can cause damage to your nerves and blood vessels. For another, they can lead to conditions like ketoacidosis, which refers to the build-up of acids in the blood. Type 1 diabetes patients are more prone to such conditions.

Don’t let this think you for a moment that type 2 diabetics are safe from threats of hyperglycemia. If anything, the consequences are even more dreadful. Type 2 patients are at risk of a condition called a hyperglycemic hyperosmolar nonketotic syndrome. This is a deadly condition in which the patient cannot process high blood sugar levels. Symptoms of this disease include frequent urination, dark urine, and severe dehydration.

Normal Blood Sugar Levels for Adults

Plenty of useful facts are shared right there in the opening lines of this discussion! But there is still a lot of useful stuff that everyone facing a risk of diabetes must be aware of. Well, blood sugar levels less than 140 mg/dL are deemed normal. So for all those folks having these numbers on their reading, well you are alright! Still, exercising caution is extremely important!

The Dangerous Threshold of High Blood Sugar Level

On the other hand, a blood sugar level reading of more than 200 mg/dL after two hours indicates diabetes. A reading between 140 and 199 mg/dL indicates pre-diabetes, a condition in which blood sugar levels are higher than normal are but still are not deemed characteristic of diabetes. One must make changes to lifestyle if these numbers persist. It is pertinent to mention here that these numbers are valid for adults but are subject to variation with advancing years.

Hyperglycemia Types

We know some of you are wondering about the causes and symptoms of hyperglycemia. We will talk about them in a minute, but for now, let us briefly comment on types! Well, there are two key types of hyperglycemia. These are fasting hyperglycemia and postprandial hyperglycemia. The former refers to hyperglycemia in cases where blood sugar levels are higher after not eating or drinking for at least eight hours. On the other hand, postprandial hyperglycemia refers to higher blood sugar levels after two hours of eating or drinking.

Causes of Hyperglycemia

There are several reasons for higher blood sugar levels. Some of these include eating too many carbs, skipping glucose-controlling medicines like insulin, infections, stress, and participating in physical activities. What may cause hyperglycemia in one person might not cause in another, the reasons may vary from person to person.

Symptoms of Hyperglycemia

Like causes, symptoms of hyperglycemia can vary from one person to another as well. However, some of the most commonly reported symptoms include thirst, headache, blurry vision, fatigue, and alarming weight loss. Of course, higher readings on a glucometer are indicative of the condition itself as well. Hyperglycemia can lead to skin infections, cuts, sores, deteriorating vision, nerve damage, and renal damage.

Treating Hyperglycemia

Fairly simple, if you ask us! All that you have to do is make some changes to your current lifestyle. And these changes are healthy habits that you should have anyway! For example, drinking water is something you should be doing irrespective of hyperglycemia, it saves you from dehydration. Other changes that you can make to your lifestyle include exercising more and taking certain junk foods out of your diet!

Help Diabetics Worldwide!

Plenty of ways in which you can become a voice for hyperglycemia patients who are at risk of diabetes! You could listen to a podcast, attend a seminar, or even be a little creative and sketch something inspirational for all diabetics around the world.  But let us tell you what would be the best way of helping a diabetic patient! Chip in a bit for the cause of helping those diabetic patients who belong to the underprivileged section of the society, for example, patients from countries like Pakistan. Donating through a charity that you trust is one fine way of helping diabetic patients, one foundation that has sworn to help the diabetics in Pakistan is Transparent Hands.

Transparent Hands

Let us familiarize you a bit with this organization’s doings in the concluding remarks of this discussion. When it comes to crowdfunding for health, there is no platform bigger than Transparent Hands in Pakistan. The range of healthcare services offered by Transparent Hands is astoundingly vast. From medical and surgical treatments to medical camps and telehealth facilities, the NGO makes sure that the underprivileged Pakistanis have access to quality healthcare services. The NGO believes in creating a patient-donor bond while making sure that the protocols of transparency aren’t breached at any point. The NGO realizes the need for free medical camps in the rural areas, hence it actively sets up such camps as well. To donate, donors can log in to the Transparent Hands crowdfunding web portal from anywhere in the world. Payment modes are one hundred percent secure. Every donor has absolute freedom in selecting and funding patients of their choice. The NGO makes sure that regular updates until complete recovery are sent to the concerned donor.

Conclusion -High Blood Sugar Level

That would be all from this discussion. We wish we could go on a bit more and talk about the finer aspects of hyperglycemia, but unfortunately, the limitations of time and space force us to wrap up this debate here. Nevertheless, we are quite optimistic that you are well aware of risk factors and preventive tips that can help you avert hyperglycemia now that you have read this article from A-Z. On that optimistic note, we bid you farewell from this space!