Hyperglycemia
Hyperglycemia is a state in which the blood glucose level exceeds its normal condition. It is, therefore, called high blood sugar. It is usually found to affect those having diabetes mellitus though it might occur in non-diabetic individuals. Glucose is fuel for all cells. Hyperglycemia, therefore, indicates that there exists too much sugar glucose in your blood. It is also referred to as high blood sugar or high blood glucose.
This is when your body has too little insulin-a hormone or if your body can’t make use of insulin properly-insulin resistance. Hyperglycemia normally implies that you have diabetes, and individuals with diabetes normally experience frequent hyperglycemic episodes. If left uncontrolled for lengthy periods, it may damage your nerves, blood vessels, tissues, and organs. Diabetic ketoacidosis DKA can also result from severe hyperglycemia as a complication for people diagnosed with diabetes undergoing insulin therapy and in those suffering from previously unknown Type 1 diabetes. This condition demands urgent medical treatment.
Symptoms of high blood sugar
Minor hyperglycemia is frequently harmless and clinically silent. Blood glucose levels can become appreciably higher than normal and remain elevated, causing pathological and functional changes for considerable periods without producing any permanent effects or symptoms. For such an asymptomatic period of carbohydrate metabolic abnormality, plasma glucose can be used for testing.
Very long periods of above-normal levels of chronic hyperglycemia can lead to a very wide variety of potentially very serious complications, including damage to the kidneys, neurological damage, cardiovascular damage, and damage to the retina, or feet and legs. Diabetic neuropathy may be the culmination of chronic hyperglycemia. Impaired growth and increased susceptibility to certain infections may be associated with chronic hyperglycemia.
Blurred vision, Fatigue, Restlessness, Unusual weight loss or gain, Poor healing of wounds, Dry mouth, Dry or itchy skin, Tingling in feet and heels, Erectile dysfunction, Recurrent infections such as ear infections, Delayed gastric emptying, Cardiac arrhythmia, Stupor, Coma, Seizures
The feeling of hunger even without the manifestation of other symptoms can be indicative of very low blood sugar levels. Such situations arise in those who suffer from diabetes due to excessive use of oral hypoglycemic medication or insulin for the food intake consumed by them.
Such a decreased drop in the level of blood sugar below normal brings about hunger responses. Polydipsia and polyuria result when blood glucose levels rise high enough to create the excretion of excess glucose through the kidneys and cause glucose to be present in the urine.
Causes of hyperglycemia
Hyperglycemia can be due to diabetes, other non-diabetic endocrine disorders, such as insulin resistance and thyroid, adrenal, pancreatic, pituitary disorders, sepsis and specific infections, intracranial diseases, which include encephalitis, brain tumors particularly those close to the pituitary gland, brain hemorrhages, and meningitis often overlooked, convulsions, end-stage terminal disease, prolonged or major surgeries, stress, and excessive intake of carbohydrates.
Endocrine
The most common cause of chronic, persistent hyperglycemia is diabetes. Several hormones elevate blood glucose and therefore may lead to hyperglycemia when they are in excess: these include cortisol, catecholamines, growth hormone, glucagon, and thyroid hormones. Hyperglycaemia can thus be seen in Cushing’s syndrome, pheochromocytoma, acromegaly, hyperglucagonemia, and hyperthyroidism.
Blood sugar level
The most typical cause of sustained hyperglycemia, including into the states of fasting is diabetes mellitus. The very characteristic feature of the disease represents chronic hyperglycemia. Intermittent hyperglycemia has been related with prediabetic conditions. Indicative to a developing condition of diabetes mellitus or predilection toward the disorder would be episodes of acute hyperglycemia whose cause appears quite obscure.
The cause of hyperglycemia depends on the type and state of the disease generally, low insulin levels of diabetes mellitus type 1 and resistance to insulin at the cellular level of diabetes mellitus type 2. Low levels of insulin and/or insulin resistance cannot enable the body to transform glucose into glycogen a starch-like source of energy stored primarily in the liver, which makes it impossible or hard to remove excess glucose from the blood. When their mechanisms fail in such a way as to allow glucose to rise to abnormal levels, the condition is known to be hyperglycemia.
Medications for high blood sugar
Some drugs that cause hyperglycemia include corticosteroids octreotide, beta blockers, epinephrine, thiazide diuretics, statins, pentamidine, protease inhibitors, L-asparaginase and antipsychotics. Amphetamines cause an increase in the blood glucose level early on but lead to hypoglycemia later on. Thiazides are used in the treatment of hypertension in patients having type 2 diabetes but cause hyperglycemia.
Stress
Stress of patients with acute stress like stroke will experience hyperglycemia even in the absence of a diagnosis of diabetes. Perhaps, a stroke or myocardial infarction was triggered by hyperglycemia and undiagnosed diabetes. Human and animal studies suggest that this is not benign and that stress-induced hyperglycemia is associated with an extremely high risk of mortality after both stroke and myocardial infarction. Somatostatinomas and aldosterone-induced hypokalemia can result in hyperglycemia but normally resolve after the resection of the tumor.
Treatment for high blood sugar
Hyperglycemia is to be treated with the removal of the underlying cause, like diabetes. Acute hyperglycemia can be managed through the direct administration of insulin in most instances and maybe even reduced by the consumption of some natural products. For instance, the administration of a raw dose of cinnamon before a diet containing complex carbohydrates reduces postprandial hyperglycemia in patients having type II diabetes. Oral hypoglycemic therapy in combination with modification of lifestyle would help treat acute hyperglycemia.
Sometimes, substituting white bread with whole wheat may help reduce hyperglycemia; removing bread entirely and reducing carbs progressively may do even better. The most common cause of chronic hyperglycemia, treatment is geared at maintaining blood glucose at a level as close to normal as possible, to avoid serious long-term complications.
Those with hyperglycemia can be treated using sulphonylureas metformin or both. These drugs help by improving glycemic control. Dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitor alone or in combination with basal insulin can be used as a treatment for hyperglycemia with patients still in hospital.
Improvement of hyperglycemia can also be achieved with small modifications in lifestyle. Increased aerobic exercise for at least 30 minutes each day forces the body to better utilize stored glucose since the glucose is being utilized to form energy by muscles. Calorie tracking, with restriction as needed, may prevent people from over-eating, thus keeping people in a hyperglycemic state.
Epidemiology
Environmental factors
Hyperglycemia can be lower among the better-income groups, as there is access to quality education and health care, so most of their needs are covered. In contrast, low-middle income groups are more likely to develop hyperglycemia the group is less likely to access good education and healthy food. Warming climatic conditions reduce cases of hyperglycemia because people tend to be more active in such climates, while the opposite is more prevalent in colder climates.
Population
Hyperglycemia is one of the main symptoms of diabetes and it has substantially affected the population making it an epidemic due to the population’s increased calorie consumption. Healthcare providers are trying to work more closely with people allowing them more freedom with interventions that suit their lifestyle. As physical inactivity and calorie consumption increase it makes individuals more susceptible to developing hyperglycemia. Hyperglycemia is caused by type 1 diabetes and non-whites have a higher susceptibility for it.