What is glycemia and how dangerous is it? Diagnosis of the disease
The concept of glycemia is one of the most important concepts in the vital activity of the human body. The word of Greek origin includes two important concepts: "sweet" and "blood."In other words, glycemia is the content of glucose in the blood, the most important variable in the functioning of living organisms that can be controlled and regulated.
Normally, glycemia should be between 3.3 and 5.5 mmol / l. In this case, the stability of this indicator must be considered a prerequisite, otherwise the brain simply will not be able to function properly.
Lowering the blood glucose level to the critical markers, or the increase may cause loss of consciousness, seizures, as the end result - a coma.
Methods for regulating glycemia
In the body, glycemia is subject to the action of certain physiological processes. Fluctuations in blood glucose level in the upward direction occur after ingestion, when the body absorbs light carbohydrates from food, sometimes splits them from starches. A lowered glucose level is observed as a consequence of catabolism, in particular, with physical activity, elevated temperature, severe stress.
In the process of maintaining a constant level of glycemia, hormones( insulin, adrenaline and others) take part.
Symptoms of pathology
Depending on the deviation of glycemia in one direction or another, scientists distinguish two states:
- hypoglycemia,
- hyperglycemia.
These are the conditions that occur when blood glucose levels fall and rise. Since the causes of these conditions are completely opposite, the symptoms of glycemia are also significantly different.
Hypoglycemia occurs in healthy people by observing excessively strict diets, with strong physical exertion. Patients with diabetes mellitus can occur with an incorrectly selected dose of insulin. For hypoglycemia is characterized by a state of hunger, nausea and vomiting, a general weakness. There is arrhythmia, increased excitement, dizziness and poor coordination. In the absence of qualified care, the condition may worsen, including fainting and coma.
Hyperglycemia is noted in diabetic patients. An acute hyperglycemic condition is a direct indicator if not actually diabetes, then a predisposition to it. Among the symptoms are a strong thirst, polyuria, fatigue, skin itching.
Diabetic patients also have postprandial glycemia, a condition in which the glucose level is greater than 10 mmol / l after eating.
How is glycemia diagnosed?
There are two ways of clinical determination of glycemia: fasting glycemia and text for glucose tolerance.
The first method, fasting glycemia, is considered the most common and consists in measuring the concentration of glucose in the blood after an eight-hour fasting. The boundary level of this indicator is 6.2 mmol / l.
In recent years, such a term as a violation of fasting glycemia is often used. Under it is usually meant a state when the fasted blood sugar level is from 5.6 to 6.2 mmol / l. But a few hours after the body's load glucose solution, it grows to 7.7 mmol / l. Such a result is considered alarming and considered as a likely factor in the subsequent development of diabetes. However, it is not always a violation of fasting glycemia that indicates this.
It must be remembered that in order to make an accurate diagnosis and confirm forecasts, it is necessary to have at least two indicators of blood sugar level, preferably performed on different days in order to avoid a situational error. In carrying out this study, it is extremely important to refrain from taking drugs that affect the hormonal background, since they can affect the result of the analysis.
If the result of determining the level of fasting glycemia is not affected by any extraneous factors, then to clarify the state of the body it is important to conduct an additional study: a test for tolerance to sugar.
This analysis is carried out exactly in those situations when there is no significant cause to diagnose diabetes, but the results of fasting glycemia show an abnormal level. The test is performed as follows: the blood is taken on an empty stomach, then the patient should use 75 grams of glucose dissolved in a small amount of water. After two hours, the final blood sample is taken, which will be the indicator of the dynamics. The indicator to 7.8 mmol / l demonstrates the norm, from 7.8 to 10.3 mmol / l indicates a violation of sugar, and the excess of this number is a direct sign of diabetes.