In very simple terms, diabetes is having a high amount of blood sugar. The condition comes with a strict regimen of testing and managing that level.
But, there are “normal” ranges of blood sugar to attempt to stay within, even in the different types of diabetes. Here, we look at what those levels are, as well as appropriate blood glucose levels for people who don’t have diabetes.
Factors That Contribute to Blood Sugar Range
The body’s level of blood glucose is controlled by insulin, a hormone produced in the pancreas that helps your body absorb the sugar and use it in your cells. As your level of blood glucose rises, your pancreas produces more insulin to compensate. This helps keep your average blood glucose level within a safe range.
In diabetes, the body can’t produce enough insulin or can’t use the insulin properly (a condition called insulin resistance). This means that your body can’t compensate well for increases in blood glucose, which prevents your pancreas from stopping sharp spikes in blood glucose and increases the average blood glucose level over time.
Blood glucose spikes happen to everyone, especially after eating and drinking, but also after skipping breakfast, when you’re dehydrated, and after you get a sunburn, among other triggers. They are especially dangerous for people with diabetes because their bodies can’t regulate, or even out, the spikes.
A1C AND MORE
Tests for Diabetes
There are three broad types of diabetes: type 1, which usually appears in childhood and needs lifelong treatment; type 2, which usually appears later in life and can vary a lot in severity; and gestational diabetes, which is temporary and appears in pregnant people who don’t already have either of the other two types.
People with all types of diabetes generally have a higher level of sugar in their blood than people without it. When you have diabetes, it’s important tokeep a close eye onyour blood glucose and to make note ofyour average levels. This way, you can quickly identify possible problems, such as when the levels change suddenly.
“Testing for diabetes is actually pretty simple these days,” says Dr. Kasia Lipska, a specialist in diabetes medicine and management at Yale Medicine. But, she added, “no test is perfect. And so we usually recommend that if something is abnormal that [the test] be repeated so that it’s confirmed.”
There are a few different ways to test for diabetes, including hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c, or just A1c), fasting plasma glucose (FPG), and oral glucose tolerance (OGT) tests. Most tests for diabetes involve measuring the amount of glucose contained in a small blood sample. Your results will be shown as either milligrams of glucose per deciliter of blood (mg/dL) or as a percentage (%).
OGT tests measure blood sugar before and after you drink a glucose-containing liquid. This usually involves fasting for 8 hours before the first test, drinking the liquid, then having follow up tests at 1, 2, and potentially 3 hours later. The results at each point are compared to test how quickly your body compensates for a spike in blood glucose.
A1c tests are most useful for diagnosis and monitoring the progress of the condition, while FPG tests are better for day-to-day monitoring of blood glucose levels. Your health care provider might also perform certain other tests in specific cases, such as antibody tests for type 1 diabetes.
Population
Fasting
After eating
A1c
Without diabetes
99 mg/dL or less
140 mg/dL
5.7% or less
Prediabetes
100-125 mg/dL
140-199 mg/dL
5.7% to 6.4%
Adults with type 1 or 2, and kids with type 2
60-130 mg/dL
180 mg/dL or less
7% or less
Kids with type 1
150-200 mg/dL
120-140 mg/dL
7.5% or less
Pregnant people with type 1
95 mg/dL or less
120-140 mg/dL
6% or less
Gestational diabetes
95 mg/dL or less
120-140 mg/dL
n/a
RECOMMENDED LEVELS
For Adults with Type 1 and 2, Children with Type 2
What is considered a normal blood glucose level varies from person to person. It’s affected by factors such as weight, age, activity level, and whether you have any health conditions. Your health care provider will generally account for all these factors to develop a target glucose level.
A broad baseline range is between 60 mg/dL and 130 mg/dL when fasting and up to 180 mg/dL 2 hours after you begin eating, or under 7% on an A1c test.
Results that are higher than the range are called hyperglycemia (high blood sugar), while results that are lower are called hypoglycemia (low blood sugar). The borders between extremes of the ranges are not precise, but they are useful markers for monitoring general trends.
Careful monitoring is especially important for people with type 1 diabetes, as they are at higher risk of both hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia.It’s also useful for reducing long-term damage to your body, because it helps you stay within the healthy range for as long as possible throughout the day. This is called your “time in range,” and health care providers generally aim for about 70%, which equals around 16 to 17 hours per day.
For Children with Type 1
While some diabetes organizations may suggest lower targets, the generally recommended A1c level for children with type 1 diabetes is under 7.5%. However, continuous glucose monitoring (CGM), which involves a special wearable device that constantly monitors blood glucose, is thought to be a better approach. This is partly because only about a quarter of children with type 1 meet this A1c standard.
The target glucose level for newly diagnosed children using CGM is generally around 150 mg/dL, with some variation allowed during sleep hours (between 150 mg/dL and 200 mg/dL).
Children who have been diagnosed for some time and already have an established treatment plan might have a more aggressive target of around 120 mg/dL. As with adults, time in range for children with type 1 diabetes is typically around 70% (16 to 17 hours a day).
For Pregnant People with Type 1
It’s very possible to have a healthy pregnancy if you have type 1 diabetes. But if it isn’t well controlled and monitored, type 1 can increase your risk of pregnancy complications. As a result, the target blood glucose range may be lower than you are used to and require more regular monitoring.
Fasting blood glucose should be below 95 mg/dL, below 140 mg/dL an hour after eating, and below 120 mg/dL 2 hours after eating. A1c tests may be used to monitor how effectively your blood glucose is being controlled over the course of your pregnancy, with a target of below 6%.
For Gestational Diabetes
It’s normal to develop some degree of insulin resistance in late pregnancy. This could lead to gestational diabetes in certain people, especially if they already had a level of insulin resistance before becoming pregnant.
Gestational diabetes occurs in around 2% to 10% of pregnancies in the US. For this reason, your health care provider will test for it once your pregnancy is confirmed and again between the 24th and 28th weeks of the pregnancy, when it’s most likely to develop.
Blood glucose targets for gestational diabetes are similar to those recommended in pregnancy for type 1. Fasting blood glucose should be below 95 mg/dL, below 140 mg/dL an hour after eating, and below 120 mg/dL two hours after eating. With help from your health care providers, you can learn to check your levels multiple times throughout the day with a home blood glucose meter.
For People Without Diabetes
For people who don’t have diabetes, an A1c test result lower than 5.7% is considered normal. If your level is between 5.7% and 6.4%, you may have what is sometimes called prediabetes. This means that you have higher than normal blood glucose but don’t meet the criteria to be diagnosed with diabetes.
An FPG test result of 99 mg/dL or lower means that you’re within a safe range. A result between 100 to 125 mg/dL is in the prediabetes range, and you might need follow-up testing. A safe range for an OGT test result is around 140 mg/dL 2 hours after the test starts, while 140 mg/dL to 199 mg/dL is considered a prediabetic range.
If results suggest that you have prediabetes, your provider might order more tests and offer ideas for lifestyle changes that can help bring your blood glucose levels down. The goal is tolower your risk of developing type 2 diabetes later in life, or to delay its onset as long as possible.
IMPORTANCE
Why You Should Measure Blood Sugar
As many as 1 in 3 adults in the US (about 96 million people) has prediabetes. This puts them at risk for developing type 2 diabetes. Among those, it’s also suspected that around 80% don’t know they have it. Prediabetes often shows no symptoms at all for years.
This means that it’s important to get your blood glucose levels tested if you have any of the common risk factors for diabetes:
A family history of type 2 diabetes
Being older than 45
Being overweight
Having low levels of physical activity
Having PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome)
If you fit into one or more of these categories, asking your health care provider for a simple blood test might help you avoid a lifetime of diabetes. It can also lower your risk for other conditions, such as heart disease, kidney conditions, eye problems, and stroke.
It’s also crucial to keep track of blood sugar levels in diabetes to avoid serious complications of hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia:
Heart disease and problems, such as coronary artery disease with chest pain, heart attack, stroke, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol
Nerve damage (neuropathy)
Kidney damage (nephropathy), which can cause you to need dialysis or a kidney transplant due to kidney failure
Eye damage (retinopathy), which can cause blindness and increase your risk of glaucoma and cataracts
Foot damage, such as reduced blood flow, nerve damage, infections, and poor healing of wounds
Erectile dysfunction
Dementia
LOWERING BLOOD GLUCOSE
How to Lower Blood Sugar When Needed
If you don’t have diabetes but your blood glucose is in the prediabetic range, your health care providerwill likely recommend a few lifestyle changes to bring your levels down to the safe range. This usually takes the form of weight loss, changes to your diet, and regular exercise. A plan to lose between 5% and 10% of your body weight within 6 months is a common recommendation.
Diet changes usually mean reducing the size of your portions and avoiding foods high in sugar, simple carbohydrates, and saturated fats. Adding more movement to your daily life can be as simple as just moving around more while working, stretching regularly, and avoiding sitting as much, in addition to more structured exercise.
You should work with your health care provider to develop a lifestyle plan, but you may also need medication to control your blood glucose levels throughout the day and prevent dangerous spikes. If you have type 2 diabetes, you may be able to take medications by mouth, such as metformin.
However, this approach doesn’t always work if you have type 2 diabetes and won’t work at all if you have type 1. You might also need calculated doses of insulin released into your bloodstream; the amounts you should take will depend on your blood glucose test results. This can be done with regular injections throughout the day or with a device attached to your body called an insulin pump, which automatically administers it as needed.
RAISING BLOOD GLUCOSE
How to Raise Blood Sugar When Needed
Hypoglycemia, where your blood glucose is lower than 70 mg/dL, is a common problem for people with type 1 diabetes. It’s important to know how to handle it when it happens. Hypoglycemia can be caused by a number of things, such as taking too much insulin, waiting too long before eating or not eating enough, and exercising a lot more than usual.
Resolving it might be as simple as eating something that can raise your blood glucose. But in severe cases, where your blood glucose dips below 55 mg/dL, this might not be enough.
If you’re at risk of this, your health care provider might prescribe an injectable medication called glucagon to use in an emergency. You can use it yourself, or someone else can use it on you if you’re not able to. You will then need to seek emergency treatment after the injection to make sure that your glucose levels make it back up to a safe level.
The 15-15 Rule
The 15-15 rule is a helpful guideline for raising your blood glucose when it’s in the 55 mg/dL to 69 mg/dL range. It means that you should eat 15 grams of carbohydrates, then wait 15 minutes and check your blood glucose.
If your blood glucose level is still too low, repeat the process until you’re back in your target range. After this, you should try to eat something nutritious and low in fat (fat slows the absorption of sugars) to make sure it doesn’t get too low again.
What Are the Normative Blood Sugar Levels in Diabetes?
In very simple terms, diabetes is having a high amount of blood sugar. The condition comes with a strict regimen of testing and managing that level.
But, there are “normal” ranges of blood sugar to attempt to stay within, even in the different types of diabetes. Here, we look at what those levels are, as well as appropriate blood glucose levels for people who don’t have diabetes.
Factors That Contribute to Blood Sugar Range
The body’s level of blood glucose is controlled by insulin, a hormone produced in the pancreas that helps your body absorb the sugar and use it in your cells. As your level of blood glucose rises, your pancreas produces more insulin to compensate. This helps keep your average blood glucose level within a safe range.
In diabetes, the body can’t produce enough insulin or can’t use the insulin properly (a condition called insulin resistance). This means that your body can’t compensate well for increases in blood glucose, which prevents your pancreas from stopping sharp spikes in blood glucose and increases the average blood glucose level over time.
Blood glucose spikes happen to everyone, especially after eating and drinking, but also after skipping breakfast, when you’re dehydrated, and after you get a sunburn, among other triggers. They are especially dangerous for people with diabetes because their bodies can’t regulate, or even out, the spikes.
A1C AND MORE
Tests for Diabetes
There are three broad types of diabetes: type 1, which usually appears in childhood and needs lifelong treatment; type 2, which usually appears later in life and can vary a lot in severity; and gestational diabetes, which is temporary and appears in pregnant people who don’t already have either of the other two types.
People with all types of diabetes generally have a higher level of sugar in their blood than people without it. When you have diabetes, it’s important tokeep a close eye onyour blood glucose and to make note ofyour average levels. This way, you can quickly identify possible problems, such as when the levels change suddenly.
“Testing for diabetes is actually pretty simple these days,” says Dr. Kasia Lipska, a specialist in diabetes medicine and management at Yale Medicine. But, she added, “no test is perfect. And so we usually recommend that if something is abnormal that [the test] be repeated so that it’s confirmed.”
There are a few different ways to test for diabetes, including hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c, or just A1c), fasting plasma glucose (FPG), and oral glucose tolerance (OGT) tests. Most tests for diabetes involve measuring the amount of glucose contained in a small blood sample. Your results will be shown as either milligrams of glucose per deciliter of blood (mg/dL) or as a percentage (%).
OGT tests measure blood sugar before and after you drink a glucose-containing liquid. This usually involves fasting for 8 hours before the first test, drinking the liquid, then having follow up tests at 1, 2, and potentially 3 hours later. The results at each point are compared to test how quickly your body compensates for a spike in blood glucose.
A1c tests are most useful for diagnosis and monitoring the progress of the condition, while FPG tests are better for day-to-day monitoring of blood glucose levels. Your health care provider might also perform certain other tests in specific cases, such as antibody tests for type 1 diabetes.
RECOMMENDED LEVELS
For Adults with Type 1 and 2, Children with Type 2
What is considered a normal blood glucose level varies from person to person. It’s affected by factors such as weight, age, activity level, and whether you have any health conditions. Your health care provider will generally account for all these factors to develop a target glucose level.
A broad baseline range is between 60 mg/dL and 130 mg/dL when fasting and up to 180 mg/dL 2 hours after you begin eating, or under 7% on an A1c test.
Results that are higher than the range are called hyperglycemia (high blood sugar), while results that are lower are called hypoglycemia (low blood sugar). The borders between extremes of the ranges are not precise, but they are useful markers for monitoring general trends.
Careful monitoring is especially important for people with type 1 diabetes, as they are at higher risk of both hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia.It’s also useful for reducing long-term damage to your body, because it helps you stay within the healthy range for as long as possible throughout the day. This is called your “time in range,” and health care providers generally aim for about 70%, which equals around 16 to 17 hours per day.
For Children with Type 1
While some diabetes organizations may suggest lower targets, the generally recommended A1c level for children with type 1 diabetes is under 7.5%. However, continuous glucose monitoring (CGM), which involves a special wearable device that constantly monitors blood glucose, is thought to be a better approach. This is partly because only about a quarter of children with type 1 meet this A1c standard.
The target glucose level for newly diagnosed children using CGM is generally around 150 mg/dL, with some variation allowed during sleep hours (between 150 mg/dL and 200 mg/dL).
Children who have been diagnosed for some time and already have an established treatment plan might have a more aggressive target of around 120 mg/dL. As with adults, time in range for children with type 1 diabetes is typically around 70% (16 to 17 hours a day).
For Pregnant People with Type 1
It’s very possible to have a healthy pregnancy if you have type 1 diabetes. But if it isn’t well controlled and monitored, type 1 can increase your risk of pregnancy complications. As a result, the target blood glucose range may be lower than you are used to and require more regular monitoring.
Fasting blood glucose should be below 95 mg/dL, below 140 mg/dL an hour after eating, and below 120 mg/dL 2 hours after eating. A1c tests may be used to monitor how effectively your blood glucose is being controlled over the course of your pregnancy, with a target of below 6%.
For Gestational Diabetes
It’s normal to develop some degree of insulin resistance in late pregnancy. This could lead to gestational diabetes in certain people, especially if they already had a level of insulin resistance before becoming pregnant.
Gestational diabetes occurs in around 2% to 10% of pregnancies in the US. For this reason, your health care provider will test for it once your pregnancy is confirmed and again between the 24th and 28th weeks of the pregnancy, when it’s most likely to develop.
Blood glucose targets for gestational diabetes are similar to those recommended in pregnancy for type 1. Fasting blood glucose should be below 95 mg/dL, below 140 mg/dL an hour after eating, and below 120 mg/dL two hours after eating. With help from your health care providers, you can learn to check your levels multiple times throughout the day with a home blood glucose meter.
For People Without Diabetes
For people who don’t have diabetes, an A1c test result lower than 5.7% is considered normal. If your level is between 5.7% and 6.4%, you may have what is sometimes called prediabetes. This means that you have higher than normal blood glucose but don’t meet the criteria to be diagnosed with diabetes.
An FPG test result of 99 mg/dL or lower means that you’re within a safe range. A result between 100 to 125 mg/dL is in the prediabetes range, and you might need follow-up testing. A safe range for an OGT test result is around 140 mg/dL 2 hours after the test starts, while 140 mg/dL to 199 mg/dL is considered a prediabetic range.
If results suggest that you have prediabetes, your provider might order more tests and offer ideas for lifestyle changes that can help bring your blood glucose levels down. The goal is tolower your risk of developing type 2 diabetes later in life, or to delay its onset as long as possible.
IMPORTANCE
Why You Should Measure Blood Sugar
As many as 1 in 3 adults in the US (about 96 million people) has prediabetes. This puts them at risk for developing type 2 diabetes. Among those, it’s also suspected that around 80% don’t know they have it. Prediabetes often shows no symptoms at all for years.
This means that it’s important to get your blood glucose levels tested if you have any of the common risk factors for diabetes:
If you fit into one or more of these categories, asking your health care provider for a simple blood test might help you avoid a lifetime of diabetes. It can also lower your risk for other conditions, such as heart disease, kidney conditions, eye problems, and stroke.
It’s also crucial to keep track of blood sugar levels in diabetes to avoid serious complications of hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia:
LOWERING BLOOD GLUCOSE
How to Lower Blood Sugar When Needed
If you don’t have diabetes but your blood glucose is in the prediabetic range, your health care providerwill likely recommend a few lifestyle changes to bring your levels down to the safe range. This usually takes the form of weight loss, changes to your diet, and regular exercise. A plan to lose between 5% and 10% of your body weight within 6 months is a common recommendation.
Diet changes usually mean reducing the size of your portions and avoiding foods high in sugar, simple carbohydrates, and saturated fats. Adding more movement to your daily life can be as simple as just moving around more while working, stretching regularly, and avoiding sitting as much, in addition to more structured exercise.
You should work with your health care provider to develop a lifestyle plan, but you may also need medication to control your blood glucose levels throughout the day and prevent dangerous spikes. If you have type 2 diabetes, you may be able to take medications by mouth, such as metformin.
However, this approach doesn’t always work if you have type 2 diabetes and won’t work at all if you have type 1. You might also need calculated doses of insulin released into your bloodstream; the amounts you should take will depend on your blood glucose test results. This can be done with regular injections throughout the day or with a device attached to your body called an insulin pump, which automatically administers it as needed.
RAISING BLOOD GLUCOSE
How to Raise Blood Sugar When Needed
Hypoglycemia, where your blood glucose is lower than 70 mg/dL, is a common problem for people with type 1 diabetes. It’s important to know how to handle it when it happens. Hypoglycemia can be caused by a number of things, such as taking too much insulin, waiting too long before eating or not eating enough, and exercising a lot more than usual.
Resolving it might be as simple as eating something that can raise your blood glucose. But in severe cases, where your blood glucose dips below 55 mg/dL, this might not be enough.
If you’re at risk of this, your health care provider might prescribe an injectable medication called glucagon to use in an emergency. You can use it yourself, or someone else can use it on you if you’re not able to. You will then need to seek emergency treatment after the injection to make sure that your glucose levels make it back up to a safe level.
The 15-15 Rule
The 15-15 rule is a helpful guideline for raising your blood glucose when it’s in the 55 mg/dL to 69 mg/dL range. It means that you should eat 15 grams of carbohydrates, then wait 15 minutes and check your blood glucose.
If your blood glucose level is still too low, repeat the process until you’re back in your target range. After this, you should try to eat something nutritious and low in fat (fat slows the absorption of sugars) to make sure it doesn’t get too low again.
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