Hyperglycemia: Too High Sugar, Is It Something To Bother?

Keep Monitoring Bood Sugar Levels to Avoid Life-threatening Consequences

​Having diabetes or not, small fluctuations in blood sugar levels are a common occurrence in individuals due to the different foods consumed. Any number between 60 and 140 mg/dL is considered to be a normal range but those having anything beyond 140 mg/dL is termed as hyperglycemic.
 
Hyperglycemia
 
Derived from a Greek word, hyperglycemia means high (hyper) sugar (glykys) blood (haima). If we look into the details, a fasting blood sugar number beyond 125 mg/dL and a 2-hour postprandial level beyond 180 mg/dL is termed as hyperglycemia. A person is said to be in the prediabetes range (known as impaired glucose tolerance) if the blood sugar readings are between 100 mg/dL and 125 mg/dL.
 
Factors Contributing Toward Hyperglycemia
 
There are a number of reasons that result in hyperglycemia and those include:

• Individuals with type 2 diabetes sometimes have insulin but not sufficient enough to be effective
• Eating foods beyond the normal intake
• Not doing physical activity that compensates for the food consumed
• Stress—this is a major factor that lurks as the primary reason for many individuals succumbing to hyperglycemia. The stress might be due to family situations, personal conditions, or even due to infections such as cold, etc
• Use of certain medications like estrogen and glucocorticoids

 
Hyperglycemia could happen with/without the presence of diabetes. In the presence of diabetes, hyperglycemia occurs when the pancreas doesn’t produce sufficient levels of insulin to stabilize blood sugar levels. In the absence of diabetes, hyperglycemia could be the result of medical conditions such as Cushing’s syndrome, PCOD, some infections that release excess stress hormones which cause hindrance to the working ability of insulin, and also due to excess weight or decreased physical activity.
 
Risk Factors of Hyperglycemia
 

• Family history of type 2 diabetes
• Individuals of certain origins including Hispanics, Native Americans, African Americans, and Asian Americans
• Hypertension or hyperlipidemia
• Obesity/overweight

 
In recent times, the incidence rate of hyperglycemia has increased multifold times due to decrease in physical activity, increase in sedentary lifestyle, overweight/obesity, and increase in ageing population. In fact, its occurrence is predominantly seen in middle- to lower-income countries such as India, Brazil, and China.
 
Symptoms
There are various symptoms that denote the onset of hyperglycemia:
 

• Increased thirst or hunger levels
• Fatigue and tiredness
• Blurred vision
• The presence of sugar in urine
• Headache
• Too much hyperglycemia could result in polyuria, polydipsia, and loss of weight

 
Treating Hyperglycemia
 
First and foremost, the best way to treat hyperglycemia is to rectify the symptoms related to it. Besides this, exercising regularly helps in maintaining normal blood sugar levels. Try to workout for at least 30 minutes 5 times a week. A word of caution here, having blood sugar levels above 240 mg/dL increases the risk of ketones in the urine. In the presence of ketones, it is always recommended to refrain from exercising as doing so might lead to further increase in blood sugar levels in the body.
 
The next best treatment for hyperglycemia includes following a well-balanced diet plan that includes healthy portions of various foods. For planning your meal, it is recommended that you get in touch with a registered dietitian nutritionist. Also, stay hydrated.
 
Your doctor might also bring in changes to your medical routines to adjust blood glucose levels and normalize it.
 
But prevention is always better than cure, and hence, try avoiding hyperglycemia in the first place by adhering to certain guidelines. Take your insulin medications as prescribed by the physician, adhere to a healthy lifestyle by consuming a healthy diet, avoid consumption of sugary beverages, exercise regularly, avoid stress, and never fail to meet your doctor as per the appointment schedule.
 
Conclusion
 
Hyperglycemia is a serious problem, when left untreated. Any failure in acknowledging the disease and correcting it might lead to a condition called as ketoacidosis (diabetic coma) where the individual loses consciousness and remains unaware of anything happening around him/her. But, according to the American Diabetes Association (ADA), ketoacidosis primarily affects people with type 1 diabetes and rarely impacts those with type 2 diabetes.
 
Understand when hyperglycemia is an emergency with warning signs such as nausea, shortness of breath, coma, and fruity-smelling breath, and take action immediately by calling emergency. Learning to recognise the symptoms during normal times and during times of emergency, knowing the right treatment methods, and taking timely actions help avoiding life-threatening consequences of the problem.
 
Monitor blood sugar levels regularly and keep them controlled to avoid debilitating consequences of hyperglycemia including eye, nerve and kidney damage, stroke, prolonged healing time for infections, and heart attack. In short, eat healthy, exercise daily, sleep well, avoid stress, and be hydrated to minimize the risk of altered blood glucose levels.