Blood sugar level
The body tightly regulates blood glucose levels as a part of metabolic homeostasis.
Diabetes mellitus is characterized by persistent hyperglycemia from a variety of causes, and it is the most prominent disease related to the failure of blood sugar regulation.
[3] There are two ways of measuring blood glucose levels: In the United Kingdom and Commonwealth countries (Australia, Canada, India, etc.)
and ex-USSR countries molar concentration, measured in mmol/L (millimoles per litre, or millimolar, abbreviated mM).
In the United States, Germany, Japan and many other countries mass concentration is measured in mg/dl (milligrams per decilitre).
However, shortly after eating, the blood glucose level may rise, in non-diabetics, temporarily up to 7.8 mmol/L (140 mg/dL) or slightly more.
[citation needed] In general, ranges of blood sugar in common domestic ruminants are lower than in many monogastric mammals.
For serum glucose in mg/dL, reference ranges of 42 to 75 for cows, 44 to 81 for sheep, and 48 to 76 for goats, but 61 to 124 for cats; 62 to 108 for dogs, 62 to 114 for horses, 66 to 116 for pigs, 75 to 155 for rabbits, and 90 to 140 for llamas have been reported.
[23] In order for blood glucose to be kept stable, modifications to insulin, glucagon, epinephrine and cortisol are made.
Epinephrine prepares the muscles and respiratory system for activity in the case of a "fight or flight" response.
[24] If blood sugar levels remain too high the body suppresses appetite over the short term.
Long-term hyperglycemia causes many health problems including heart disease, cancer,[25] eye, kidney, and nerve damage.
Ketones will be very high (a magnitude higher than when eating a very low carbohydrate diet) initiating ketoacidosis.
From the perspective of the majority of patients, treatment with an old, well-understood diabetes drug such as metformin will be the safest, most effective, least expensive, and most comfortable route to managing the condition.
There are several causes of low blood sugar, including, taking an excessive amount of insulin, not consuming enough carbohydrates, drinking alcohol, spending time at a high elevation, puberty, and menstruation.
[32] If blood sugar levels drop too low, a potentially fatal condition called hypoglycemia develops.
Symptoms may include lethargy, impaired mental functioning; irritability; shaking, twitching, weakness in arm and leg muscles; pale complexion; sweating; loss of consciousness.
Without discounting the potentially quite serious conditions and risks due to or oftentimes accompanying hyperglycemia, especially in the long-term (diabetes or pre-diabetes, obesity or overweight, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, etc.
This is especially the case for those organs that are metabolically active or that require a constant, regulated supply of blood sugar (the liver and brain are examples).
For severe cases, prompt medical assistance is essential, as damage to brain and other tissues and even death will result from sufficiently low blood-glucose levels.
Since other blood compounds also have reducing properties (e.g., urea, which can be abnormally high in uremic patients), this technique can produce erroneous readings in some situations (5–15 mg/dL has been reported).
[36] In either case, the chemical system is commonly contained on a test strip which is inserted into a meter, and then has a blood sample applied.
Formerly, some test strips were read (after timing and wiping away the blood sample) by visual comparison against a color chart printed on the vial label.
A noninvasive method of sampling to monitor glucose levels has emerged using an exhaled breath condensate.
Abnormalities in these test results are due to problems in the multiple control mechanism of glucose regulation.
[citation needed] Error rates for blood glucose measurements systems vary, depending on laboratories, and on the methods used.
Thus if a meter / test strip system is consistently wrong by 10%, there will be little consequence, as long as changes (e.g., due to exercise or medication adjustments) are properly tracked.
In the US, home use blood test meters must be approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration before they can be sold.
[citation needed] Finally, there are several influences on blood glucose level aside from food intake.
Infection, for instance, tends to change blood glucose levels, as does stress either physical or psychological.
