Blood glucose
A blood glucose test measures the amount of a type of sugar, called glucose, in your blood. Glucose comes from carbohydrate foods. It is the main source of energy used by the body. Insulin is a hormone that helps your body use and control the amount of glucose in your blood. Insulin is produced in the pancreas and released into the blood when the amount of glucose in the blood rises.
Normally, your blood glucose levels increase slightly after you eat. This increase causes your pancreas to release insulin so that your blood glucose levels do not get too high.
Why control blood glucose levels?
For those with diabetes it's very important that their glucose level is as near normal as possible. The primary goal of any diabetes treatment is simply to keep the blood glucose level stable.
Stable blood glucose significantly reduces the risk of developing late-stage diabetic complications, which may start to appear 10 to 15 years after diagnosis with Type 1 diabetes and often less than 10 years after diagnosis with Type 2 diabetes. Late-stage diabetic complications include nerve disease, eye disease, kidney disease, stroke, heart attack, hypertension and heart failure.
How are blood glucose levels measured?
Once a diagnosis of diabetes has been made, blood glucose levels can be measured very simply and quickly with a home blood glucose level testing kit. These kits come in a variety of shapes and sizes, but they all consist of at least two things: the measuring device itself and a strip.
Check your blood glucose level by placing a small amount of blood on the strip. The strip is then placed into the monitor. After about 30 seconds the monitor will display the blood glucose level.
What should blood glucose levels be?
- 4 to 7mmol/l before meals.
- less than 10mmol/l one-and-a-half hours after meals.
- around 8mmol/l at bedtime.
How often should blood glucose levels be measured?
Those with diabetes should measure their blood glucose level once a day, either in the morning before breakfast or at bedtime.
Measuring blood glucose levels in the morning enables insulin-treated diabetics to take appropriate amounts of insulin if the blood glucose level is high or low. This will reduce the risk of developing late-stage diabetic complications.
Blood glucose should be measured any time a diabetic doesn't feel well, or thinks their blood glucose is either too high or too low.
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