What is my blood sugar (glycaemia): Low, normal or high?

What is my blood sugar (glycaemia): low, normal or high?

The technical term glycaemia refers to glucose (blood sugar). Glucose is an important cell fuel. Its deficiency is particularly noticeable in brain activity.

Neither low nor high blood sugar is not desirable.

Both conditions, whether hypoglycaemia (not enough sugar in the blood) or hyperglycaemia (too much of it), carry certain health risks and complications.

A glycaemic value below 2.8 mmol per litre is called hypoglycaemia, i.e. low blood sugar. In that case, the difficulty comes on suddenly and a sober person suddenly appears drunk, apathetic, not well understood and may even pass out at some time.

Pallor and excessive sweating of the skin are also typical manifestations.

The person is pale, sweaty, poorly articulate, cannot be understood, may be disoriented.
The person gives the impression of being drunk and yet he hasn't been drinking at all.Po chvíli sa jeho zdravotný stav zhoršuje.
The person falls to the ground and is knocked unconscious.
Think about hypoglycemia!

The value of hyperglycaemia, i.e. excess blood sugar, is slightly confused and depends on whether the person is fasting or has eaten before the test.

Usually, the numbers 5.6 to 6.9 are given as the cutoff values for normal and high blood sugar levels.

However, if the value is higher for a longer period of time, it is necessary to look for the cause as it is possible that it is diabetes mellitus.

Did you know? Glycaemic values are given in mmol/litre.
We also use mg per decilitre - mg/dL
The conversion of units is simple, namely:
converting mmol into milligrams: multiply by 18,
4,0 mmol/l x 18 = 72 mg/dL,
converting from mg to mmol: divide by 18,
72 mg/dL : 18 = 4,0 mmol/L.

A piece of chocolate, a sugar cube/spoon, honey will be enough to boost our sugar. That's how we increase blood sugar fastest. For a milder increase it is good to have any full and balanced meal.

Lowering glycaemia is not that easy.

Of course, it depends on the situation and whether there is an associated disease - diabetes. In this case, it is not enough just to starve. After all, the body, cells and the brain need nutrients and blood sugar.

Why sugar stays in the blood at higher levels is a separate question with a long answer. The basic information is given in our articles in the links below.