The concentration of glucose in the blood, the blood sugar, is kept at a relatively constant level in healthy people. Some of the constituents of our food are broken down into glucose, which is transported into the cells of the body by the hormone of insulin. Inside the cells glucose is converted into energy by the mitochondria (energy factories of the cells). Excess glucose is stored in the liver as glycogen (storage form of glucose) and as fat.
This process can be interrupted or disturbed in various ways which can be divided into two groups: those leading to low blood sugar, hypoglycaemia, and those causing high blood sugar, hyperglycaemia. Long-lasting hyperglycaemia will often develop into diabetes.
Diabetes is also divided into two different groups: Type 1 diabetes requires daily injections of insulin and type 2 diabetes can be treated with changes in lifestyle (but often requires medication).
In diabetes, the blood sugar is permanently increased. Many believe that type 2 diabetes is preceded by periods of low blood sugar.
Low blood sugar might as well be labelled as fluctuating blood sugar as the blood sugar will rarely be too low throughout the whole day, but the symptoms are more pronounced in periods where the blood sugar reaches low values.
If suffering from so-called insulin resistance, the blood level of insulin is increased, but for different reasons the insulin is not bound to the cells, and therefore insulin is not transported into the cells. The cells become undernourished and are therefore not able to produce sufficient amounts of energy. The person will fell tired and characteristically often hungry although he or she has already had a normal meal. In the long run, some become obese because of this feeling. Obesity increases the resistance towards insulin by further decreasing the insulin uptake of the cells. The result is a self-perpetuating process.
Alcoholism, pregnancy, and disease can also cause blood sugar abnormalities.
When pregnancy is the cause, the condition is usually temporary. Quite a few blood-sugar related conditions are elicited by insufficient breakdown of proteins and amino acids, i.e. a deficient digestion.
A large intake of sugar, alcohol, and other so-called empty calories is particularly problematic in relation to blood sugar diseases because of the resulting large fluctuations in the blood sugar curve.
When the blood sugar is too high, the pancreas responds by producing large quantities of insulin. The final result is therefore a dangerously large reduction in blood sugar values. When the blood sugar falls dramatically, the adrenal glands respond by producing large quantities of adrenalin causing the blood sugar to rise once again. Meanwhile the constant alert of the digestive system drains the body of vitamins and minerals and tires out the digestive organs. The organism as a whole becomes more and more resistant to insulin, primarily because of the lack of vitamins and minerals.
A normal blood sugar lies between 5 and 7 millimoles per litre. If several measurements can determine a fasting blood sugar higher than 7 mmol/litre, diabetes is suspected. Sugar is excreted through the urine when the blood sugar exceeds 10 mmol/liter. Small measuring devices are available which can measure the blood sugar by applying a small drop of blood to a sensor.
There are several different tests that offer a more detailed picture of the blood sugar level. An example is the glucose tolerance test that measures how fast or slow the blood sugar level falls after a meal. Another one is the more expensive but also more accurate glucose-insulin tolerance test, which measures the insulin level as well as the blood sugar level over a period of 6 hours.
