Parents may find that a doctor provides more straightforward guidelines for children than adults if the benefits outweigh the risks. The following are average guideline levels for teens, but people should ask a doctor for individual recommendations.
Gestational diabetes can occur during pregnancy. Often, it is a temporary condition, but it can lead to pregnancy complications. The American Diabetes Association ADA recommends that people with a diagnosis of gestational diabetes aim for blood sugar levels similar to those for people without diabetes, although individual targets may vary. A doctor will advise the individual on what to do if blood sugar levels are not within the target range. Target levels vary throughout the day. They tend to be lower before eating and after exercise and higher an hour or so after meals.
Blood sugar charts often show recommended levels as a range, allowing for differences between individuals. Why is diabetes more common in Black Americans? Find out here. A person with very low blood sugar, or hypoglycemia , may notice the following symptoms:. If levels remain low, the person should seek medical advice.
If the individual loses consciousness, someone should seek emergency medical help. High blood sugar is called hyperglycemia and may lead to:. Exercising may help.
If high levels persist, the person should speak to a doctor as they may need to adjust their treatment plan. A person should also contact a doctor if high or low blood sugar symptoms are severe, as they may need emergency medical attention. What is a diabetic emergency, and what action should a person take? Monitoring blood sugar levels is an important part of diabetes management.
A monitoring plan may include:. Typical times a person will check their levels include:. A note of caution: the A1c measurement is not always accurate. For example, if someone has certain type of hemoglobin mutations variation in the hemoglobin structure , is severely anemic low red blood cell count , iron deficient or is being treated blood transfusions or medications to increase the production of new red blood cells, the A1c test may not be accurate.
If your finger-stick blood tests give an average blood sugar that is much higher or lower than your A1c test, ask your doctor if the A1c is the right test for you. An alternative test to the A1c is a fructosamine test. Unfortunately, the fructosamine test and the A1c are not interchangeable because they are measuring different things.
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. Call your doctor or seek immediate medical care if you have signs or symptoms of this condition.
Low blood sugar hypoglycemia. If your blood sugar level drops below your target range, it's known as low blood sugar hypoglycemia. If you're taking medication that lowers your blood sugar, including insulin, your blood sugar level can drop for many reasons, including skipping a meal and getting more physical activity than normal. Low blood sugar also occurs if you take too much insulin or an excess of a glucose-lowering medication that promotes the secretion of insulin by your pancreas. Check your blood sugar level regularly, and watch for signs and symptoms of low blood sugar — sweating, shakiness, weakness, hunger, dizziness, headache, blurred vision, heart palpitations, irritability, slurred speech, drowsiness, confusion, fainting and seizures.
Low blood sugar is treated with quickly absorbed carbohydrates, such as fruit juice or glucose tablets. Explore Mayo Clinic studies testing new treatments, interventions and tests as a means to prevent, detect, treat or manage this condition.
Diabetes is a serious disease. Following your diabetes treatment plan takes round-the-clock commitment. Careful management of diabetes can reduce your risk of serious — even life-threatening — complications. Make physical activity part of your daily routine. Regular exercise can help prevent prediabetes and type 2 diabetes, and it can help those who already have diabetes to maintain better blood sugar control. A minimum of 30 minutes of moderate exercise — such as brisk walking — most days of the week is recommended.
Aim for at least minutes of moderate aerobic activity a week. It's also a good idea to spend less time sitting still. Try to get up and move around for a few minutes at least every 30 minutes or so when you're awake. Keep your vaccinations up to date. High blood sugar can weaken your immune system. Get a flu shot every year, and your doctor may recommend the pneumonia vaccine, as well.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC also currently recommends hepatitis B vaccination if you haven't previously been vaccinated against hepatitis B and you're an adult ages 19 to 59 with type 1 or type 2 diabetes.
The most recent CDC guidelines advise vaccination as soon as possible after diagnosis with type 1 or type 2 diabetes. If you are age 60 or older, have diabetes, and haven't previously received the vaccine, talk to your doctor about whether it's right for you.
If you drink alcohol, do so responsibly. Alcohol can cause either high or low blood sugar, depending on how much you drink and if you eat at the same time. If you choose to drink, do so only in moderation — one drink a day for women and two drinks a day for men — and always with food. Remember to include the carbohydrates from any alcohol you drink in your daily carbohydrate count.
And check your blood sugar levels before going to bed. Numerous substances have been shown to improve insulin sensitivity in some studies, while other studies fail to find any benefit for blood sugar control or in lowering A1C levels.
Because of the conflicting findings, there aren't any alternative therapies that are currently recommended to help everyone with blood sugar management. If you decide to try any type of alternative therapy, don't stop taking the medications that your doctor has prescribed. Be sure to discuss the use of any of these therapies with your doctor to make sure that they won't cause adverse reactions or interact with your current therapy.
Additionally, there are no treatments — alternative or conventional — that can cure diabetes, so it's critical that people who are receiving insulin therapy for diabetes don't stop using insulin unless directed to do so by their physicians.
Living with diabetes can be difficult and frustrating. Sometimes, even when you've done everything right, your blood sugar levels may rise. But stick with your diabetes management plan, and you'll likely see a positive difference in your A1C when you visit your doctor. Because good diabetes management can be time-consuming, and sometimes overwhelming, some people find it helps to talk to someone.
Your doctor can probably recommend a mental health professional for you to speak with, or you may want to try a support group. Sharing your frustrations and your triumphs with people who understand what you're going through can be very helpful.
And you may find that others have great tips to share about diabetes management. You're likely to start by seeing your primary care doctor if you're having diabetes symptoms. If your child is having diabetes symptoms, you might see your child's pediatrician. If blood sugar levels are extremely high, you'll likely be sent to the emergency room. If blood sugar levels aren't high enough to put you or your child immediately at risk, you may be referred to a doctor who specializes in diabetes, among other disorders endocrinologist.
Soon after diagnosis, you'll also likely meet with a diabetes educator and a dietitian to get more information on managing your diabetes. Health care providers now use eAG to talk with their patients about A1C results. You and your provider can see how well your diabetes care plan is working by looking at your eAG readings. The results of an eAG test may not match your average of day-to-day blood sugar tests you have been taking at home on your glucose meter.
This is because you are likely to check your sugar levels before meals or when your blood sugar levels are low. But it does not show your blood sugar at other times of the day. So, the average of your results on your meter may be different than your eAG. Your doctor should never tell you what your blood sugar values are based on the eAG because the range of average blood glucose for any individual person is very broad for each A1c level.
The value is only an estimate. There are many medical conditions and medicines that change the relationship between A1c and eAG.
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