Aging and Disease

The class of diabetes referred to as type 1 diabetes refers to the state when your body is unable to produce insulin. Insulin is a protein chemical or “hormone” that is produced from your body’s pancreas. It helps transport sugar from the blood into the cells.

Type 1 diabetes has to be managed by insulin replacement therapy. The only way to replace insulin is to inject it through the skin. Insulin will make your blood sugar drop. You have to also be mindful of how much carbohydrate you ingest. If there is a mismatch between the carbohydrate in your blood and the insulin in your body, your blood sugar may go up or down. You should get some advice from your local diabetes unit

You blood sugar will go up and down througout the day. But if it goes too high or too low, it can really cause havoc with your body. When your blood sugar is high, you may find that you need to go to the toilet – a lot, you can become quite thirsty and you can even go into a type of coma. If your blood sugar drops too low, you may find yourself become shaky and confused. What follows is a short discussion about the factors that affect your blood sugar variations:

Reasons for a High Blood Glucose level

* Skipping your dose of insulin reduces amount of insulin in blood making the body cells unable absorb sugar in the blood leading to high concentration.
* Increasing the amount of carbohydrate will cause your sugar level to increase.
* If you are ill or under metabolic stress, your blood sugars can rise.
* There is something called the dawn phenomeon – basically it means that because you haven’t been doing much overnight, your blood sugar is higher.
* Taking other medicines, consult your doctor before using most types of medicines.
* Growth hormone, which mediates growth and is increased during puberty, will make your body relatively resistant to insulin and causes your blood sugar to rise.

Factors driving a Low Blood Sugar

* If, by error, you took too much insulin, your body’s cells would suck out insulin from your blood and leave you with a low blood sugar level.
* If you were to miss a meal or take in less carbohydrate than you had expected, you may find that your blood sugar drops.
* By exercising more than usual without eating enough food, the body uses more energy than it can supply leading to a deficit in blood sugar which supplies energy to body cells.
* If you drink alcohol on an empty stomach, your blood glucose will drop as a result of the alcohol on your digestion and cell function.
* Just as some medications can raise your blood glucose level, some can also drop your blood glucose level – this includes some that you can purchase over the counter, like aspirin. Always ask for advice before you take any medication.
* Women in their menstrual period, this is because hormonal changes may affect how well insulin works in the blood.

Tags: Aging, Illness

Popularity: unranked [?]