Explain How Our Body Reacts To Hyperglycemia And Hypoglycemia In Order To Get A Normal Glucose

Explain how our body reacts to hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia in order to get a normal glucose level?

During homeostasis, and especially if a person doesn't have a problem with glucose metabolism, they wouldn't normally be hyperglycemic or hypoglycemic as it's a carefully controlled subsystem of our body's makeup.

When blood glucose levels rise, the beta cells (islets of Langerhans) of the pancreas produce more of the hormone called insulin. This, in itself, would prevent a person from reaching a level of hyperglycemia. (Insulin is use to open up the body's cells so that glucose can enter them, where it is then used to create energy.)

When blood glucose is used for the creation of energy, such as if the person was exercising, which would lower blood glucose levels, though not normally to the level of hypoglycemia, the alpha cells (islets of Langerhans) of the pancreas produce more of the hormone glucagon, which stimulates the liver to release some of it's stores of glycogen ... the way it stores glucose ... back into the bloodstream.

The production of either of these hormones inhibits production of the other. i.e. when insulin is being produced, it inhibits production of glucagon, and vise versa.

Can a diabetic get both hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia?

Hypoglycemia (hypo) is when you don't have enough sugar in your blood. If you don't have any fuel, your body can't work.

ANYONE can get hypoglycemia. When you don't eat, exercise a lot, then feel weak and shaky after wards? That's a hypo. A 'normal' person's body corrects it very quickly, by dumping sugar from your liver into your blood.

When diabetics get it, it's usually caused by medication. I.E we have too much insulin, and not enough sugar. Our bodies will still dump glucose, but it may not be enough, and it can cause coma's, seizures, even death if there isn't enough glucose in our livers.

Hyperglycemia is when you have too much sugar in your blood. Normal people never get this, as their is time for the insulin to get into your system and get the sugar level down.
A 'normal' person's blood sugar never goes above 11.

Without drugs / diet control, diabetics have hyperglycemia, i.e we can't use the sugar, so it stays in our blood.

Below are some links that might help you understand.

What's the difference between hyperglycemia and diabetes?

Hyperglycemia, or high blood glucose, happens when there is too much sugar in the blood.
Causes of hyperglycemia
* Skipping or forgetting your insulin or oral glucose-lowering medication
* Eating the wrong foods
* Eating too much food
* Infection
* Illness
* Increased stress
* Decreased activity

Diabetes is a disease in which blood glucose levels are above normal. Most of the food we eat is turned into glucose, or sugar, for our bodies to use for energy. The pancreas, an organ that lies near the stomach, makes a hormone called insulin to help glucose get into the cells of our bodies. When you have diabetes, your body either doesn't make enough insulin or can't use its own insulin as well as it should. This causes sugar to build up in your blood.

Diabetes can cause serious health complications including heart disease, blindness, kidney failure, and lower-extremity amputations. Diabetes is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States.

Interesting.. they look the same to me - are you sure they weren't talking about HYPO-glycemic??

Can you die from hyperglycemia?

ABSOLUTELY.

If your glucose raises about 250 your body may begin breaking down fat as a fuel source for it's cells. When these fats are broken down, toxins called ketones may be released - this is called DKA. Once in DKA, your blood has a high level of glucose, but because of the lack of insulin, your cells are unable to use it. High blood glucose, or hyperglycemia will cause thirst, excessive urination, headache, nausea, vomiting, loss of blurring of vision, and in severe cases a person may fall into a coma. This is a very dangerous situation, and is more often seen in type 1 diabetics. Insulin, fluids, and electrolyte replacement/monitoring will be needed.

What is Hypoglycemia?

Hypoglycemia - hy-po-gly-ce-mi-a (n.)
An abnormally low level of sugar in the blood.

What does this mean?
In simple layman's language, hypoglycemia is the body's inability to properly handle the large amounts of sugar that the average American consumes today. It's an overload of sugar, alcohol, caffeine, tobacco and stress.

In medical terms, hypoglycemia is defined in relation to its cause. Functional hypoglycemia, the kind we are addressing here, is the oversecretion of insulin by the pancreas in response to a rapid rise in blood sugar or "glucose".

All carbohydrates (vegetables, fruits and grains, as well as simple table sugar), are broken down into simple sugars by the process of digestion. This sugar enters the blood stream as glucose and our level of blood sugar rises. The pancreas then secretes a hormone known as insulin into the blood in order to bring the glucose down to normal levels.

In hypoglycemia, the pancreas sends out too much insulin and the blood sugar plummets below the level necessary to maintain well-being.

Since all the cells of the body, especially the brain cells, use glucose for fuel, a blood glucose level that is too low starves the cells of needed fuel, causing both physical and emotional symptoms.

-an excerpt from The Do's and Don'ts of Hypoglycemia: An Everyday Guide to Low Blood Sugar by Roberta Ruggiero

Some of the symptoms of hypoglycemia are:

* fatigue
* insomnia
* mental confusion
* nervousness
* mood swings
* faintness
* headaches
* depression
* phobias
* heart palpitations

# a craving for sweets
# cold hands and feet
# forgetfulness
# dizziness
# blurred vision
# inner trembling
# outbursts of temper
# sudden hunger
# allergies
# crying spells
Whether you are hypoglycemic or think you are hypoglycemic, the first requirement is to EDUCATE yourself. As a knowledgeable patient, you will then be able to wisely choose a health-care professional who can assist you with your diagnosis and treatment.






**hope this helps!***

If you are hyperglycemic what foods should you eat when your blood sugar is high?

Are you sure you mean hyperglycemia and not hypoglycemia?

Let me explain the difference. Hypoglycemia is a condition marked by blood glucose levels that are below normal fasting levels. Here the type of food you eat and when you eat is extremely important. When glucose levels are low, this means you have no energy and need to eat. I suggest unprocessed foods, complex carbohydrates, high fiber foods, and water.

Hyperglycemia is a condition in which blood glucose levels are higher than normal. Your aunt should drink more water, exercise more, change her eating habits. In other words, she wants to do things to use up the extra energy (sugar) in her bloodstream. A good idea is for her to visit a dietitian the change the amount and types of foods she's eating. See a health care provider to make adjustments in the the amount of medication or the timing of the medications she's taking.

Eating when your blood glucose level is high is not the answer. High glucose levels means sugar is in the bloodstream when it should be in the body's cells. Eating more food won't help that condition. Only insulin and in this case, "meds" will push the glucose into the cells.

Both of these conditions can and often do lead into diabetes, which is a chronic disease in which the body can no longer regulate glucose within normal limits, and blood glucose levels become dangerously high. The excessive fluctuations in glucose can injure tissues throughtou the body, and if it is not controlled can lead to blindness, seizures, kidney failure nerve disease, amputations, stroke, coma, heart disease, and death. Diabetes is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States.

Can anyone explain in layman's terms the "Somogyi Effect" or "Dawn Phenomena"?

this is quite tough to explain in plain layman terms. its more of a headache to doctors than patients actually, even though the patients are the ones who suffer the consequences if his/her doctor doesnt think of the somogyi effect.

there are a few things u need to know first before you can understand the effect.

the normal blood sugar level in controled by insulin in your system, which is the defective part when you have diabetis. however, it is not solely controled by this, but also many other hormones.

a natural body responce, when in any conditions of stress is to increase the amount of sugar in the blood. this is a natural phenomenon, as your body is preparing for more energy to be used. your body takes it as more stress = more work = more energy needed.

so the somogyi effect is when you blood sugar level drops low in the middle of the night, due to too much medication or too little food intake prior to that. the reduced blood sugar level releases stress hormones into the system. the stress hormones act by desensitizing the existing insulin in your system.

this in turn slowly leads to increase blood sugar levels that generally is high when you doctor or yourself checks it in the morning.

when you see a high morning reading, your natural theraphy would be to increase the dosage of medication/insulin for the night time. this is assuming that your control is not good enough and your insulin level has been elevated the whole night through.

so increasing the insulin theraphy would only worsen the condition, as a higher stress level is achieved and a persistent high reading is obtained every morning.

this can only be diagnosed by taking regular blood sugar monitoring i.e in a hospital at a few hourly period interval through out the night. it would help too to have a smart doctor who would actually think what the problem may be instead of just taking things at face value and treating you with whatever that first pops into his head.

:) hope this helps