What does mgdl

Glucose is an important energy source for your brain and body. Your body converts carbohydrates and simple sugars in your diet to glucose for fuel usage. Your pancreas releases a hormone called insulin to regulate blood glucose levels.

According to the American Diabetes Association, a normal fasting blood glucose level is between 70 to milligrams per deciliter and the recommendation is to aim for 70 to milligrams per deciliter when fasting and less than milligrams per deciliter after meals. Low blood glucose, or hypoglycemia, occurs when your blood glucose drops too low. Blood glucose can drop if you missed a meal or waited too long to eat.

Rigorous exercise also decreases blood glucose, as well as drinking alcoholic beverages. Some medications can cause blood glucose to drop. You can prevent hypoglycemia by eating regularly. According to the National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse, high blood sugar means either you do not have enough insulin in your body or your insulin sensitivity is decreased and your body is not responding properly. Aim for at least 30 minutes or more of aerobic exercise most days of the week, or at least minutes of moderate physical activity a week.

Bouts of activity can be as brief as 10 minutes, three times a day. If you haven't been active for a while, start slowly and build up gradually. It's also a good idea to avoid sitting for too long — aim to get up and move if you've been sitting for more than 30 minutes. Treatment for type 1 diabetes involves insulin injections or the use of an insulin pump, frequent blood sugar checks, and carbohydrate counting.

Treatment of type 2 diabetes primarily involves lifestyle changes, monitoring of your blood sugar, along with diabetes medications, insulin or both. Monitoring your blood sugar. Depending on your treatment plan, you may check and record your blood sugar as many as four times a day or more often if you're taking insulin. Careful monitoring is the only way to make sure that your blood sugar level remains within your target range. People with type 2 diabetes who aren't taking insulin generally check their blood sugar much less frequently.

People who receive insulin therapy also may choose to monitor their blood sugar levels with a continuous glucose monitor. Although this technology hasn't yet completely replaced the glucose meter, it can significantly reduce the number of fingersticks necessary to check blood sugar and provide important information about trends in blood sugar levels.

Even with careful management, blood sugar levels can sometimes change unpredictably. With help from your diabetes treatment team, you'll learn how your blood sugar level changes in response to food, physical activity, medications, illness, alcohol, stress — and for women, fluctuations in hormone levels.

In addition to daily blood sugar monitoring, your doctor will likely recommend regular A1C testing to measure your average blood sugar level for the past two to three months. Compared with repeated daily blood sugar tests, A1C testing better indicates how well your diabetes treatment plan is working overall.

An elevated A1C level may signal the need for a change in your oral medication, insulin regimen or meal plan. Your target A1C goal may vary depending on your age and various other factors, such as other medical conditions you may have. Ask your doctor what your A1C target is. People with type 1 diabetes need insulin therapy to survive.

Many people with type 2 diabetes or gestational diabetes also need insulin therapy. Many types of insulin are available, including short-acting regular insulin , rapid-acting insulin, long-acting insulin and intermediate options. Depending on your needs, your doctor may prescribe a mixture of insulin types to use throughout the day and night. Insulin can't be taken orally to lower blood sugar because stomach enzymes interfere with insulin's action.

Often insulin is injected using a fine needle and syringe or an insulin pen — a device that looks like a large ink pen. An insulin pump also may be an option. The pump is a device about the size of a small cellphone worn on the outside of your body. A tube connects the reservoir of insulin to a catheter that's inserted under the skin of your abdomen. A tubeless pump that works wirelessly is also now available.

You program an insulin pump to dispense specific amounts of insulin. It can be adjusted to deliver more or less insulin depending on meals, activity level and blood sugar level.

In September , the Food and Drug Administration approved the first artificial pancreas for people with type 1 diabetes who are age 14 and older. A second artificial pancreas was approved in December Since then systems have been approved for children older than 2 years old. An artificial pancreas is also called closed-loop insulin delivery. The implanted device links a continuous glucose monitor, which checks blood sugar levels every five minutes, to an insulin pump.

The device automatically delivers the correct amount of insulin when the monitor indicates it's needed. Oral or other medications. Sometimes other oral or injected medications are prescribed as well.

Some diabetes medications stimulate your pancreas to produce and release more insulin. Others inhibit the production and release of glucose from your liver, which means you need less insulin to transport sugar into your cells.

Still others block the action of stomach or intestinal enzymes that break down carbohydrates or make your tissues more sensitive to insulin. Metformin Glumetza, Fortamet, others is generally the first medication prescribed for type 2 diabetes. Another class of medication called SGLT2 inhibitors may be used. They work by preventing the kidneys from reabsorbing sugar into the blood.

Instead, the sugar is excreted in the urine. In some people who have type 1 diabetes, a pancreas transplant may be an option. Islet transplants are being studied as well. With a successful pancreas transplant, you would no longer need insulin therapy. But transplants aren't always successful — and these procedures pose serious risks. You need a lifetime of immune-suppressing drugs to prevent organ rejection. These drugs can have serious side effects, which is why transplants are usually reserved for people whose diabetes can't be controlled or those who also need a kidney transplant.

Bariatric surgery. Although it is not specifically considered a treatment for type 2 diabetes, people with type 2 diabetes who are obese and have a body mass index higher than 35 may benefit from this type of surgery.

People who've undergone gastric bypass have seen significant improvements in their blood sugar levels. However, this procedure's long-term risks and benefits for type 2 diabetes aren't yet known. Controlling your blood sugar level is essential to keeping your baby healthy and avoiding complications during delivery.

In addition to maintaining a healthy diet and exercising, your treatment plan may include monitoring your blood sugar and, in some cases, using insulin or oral medications. Your doctor also will monitor your blood sugar level during labor. If your blood sugar rises, your baby may release high levels of insulin — which can lead to low blood sugar right after birth. If you have prediabetes, healthy lifestyle choices can help you bring your blood sugar level back to normal or at least keep it from rising toward the levels seen in type 2 diabetes.

Maintaining a healthy weight through exercise and healthy eating can help. Sometimes medications — such as metformin Glucophage, Glumetza, others — also are an option if you're at high risk of diabetes, including when your prediabetes is worsening or if you have cardiovascular disease, fatty liver disease or polycystic ovary syndrome. In other cases, medications to control cholesterol — statins, in particular — and high blood pressure medications are needed. Your doctor might prescribe low-dose aspirin therapy to help prevent cardiovascular disease if you're at high risk.

However, healthy lifestyle choices remain key. Because so many factors can affect your blood sugar, problems may sometimes arise that require immediate care, such as:. Increased ketones in your urine diabetic ketoacidosis. If your cells are starved for energy, your body may begin to break down fat. This produces toxic acids known as ketones.

Watch for loss of appetite, weakness, vomiting, fever, stomach pain and a sweet, fruity breath. You can check your urine for excess ketones with an over-the-counter ketones test kit. If you have excess ketones in your urine, consult your doctor right away or seek emergency care. This condition is more common in people with type 1 diabetes. Hyperglycemic hyperosmolar nonketotic syndrome. Hyperosmolar syndrome is caused by sky-high blood sugar that turns blood thick and syrupy.

It is seen in people with type 2 diabetes, and it's often preceded by an illness. Most blood glucose meters are prefixed to measure in one or the other. This avoids accidental switching — which could be fatal. However, you still have to be aware of the different measurement units: If information are listed in the units your meter does not support, you need to convert the values. Regular control of the metabolism is a first step to an ideal blood glucose level.

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