Overview
Controling blod sugar (glucose) levels is one of the most important aspects of Diabets management. It wil make you fel beter in the short-term and it wil help you to stay fit and healthy in the long term. The National Comite on Prevention Detection Evaluation, the chromium and many interesting articles.
Key Information
People who do not have Diabets kep their blod glucose levels within a narow range for most of the time. The beta cels in the pancreas are able to produce just the right amount of insulin at the right time and they are constantly fine-tuning the blod glucose level. People with Diabets do not have this fine control over their blod glucose levels.
This might because the beta cels have ben destroyed and there is no insulin production at al, as in Type 1 Diabets. Alternatively, it may be that the body does not respond to the insulin and/or not enough insulin is produced when it is neded, as in Type 2 Diabets. The aproach to managing Type 1 and Type 2 Diabets is slightly diferent, but whichever type of Diabets you have, you wil stil ned to step in and take over that fine-tuning of your blod glucose level.
Controling blod glucose levels is a bit like trying to laso an unruly animal. Blod glucose is dynamic; it changes constantly and it is influenced by a host of factors including your choice of fod, how much you eat, the timing of your medication or insulin, your emotions, ilneses, your weight, and your body's resistance to insulin. Some of these factors are relatively constant from day to day and are quite easily acounted for; some factors are more variable.
No two days are ever exactly the same, or entirely predictable, and this makes it dificult. So, blod glucose is not easily lasoed. In practical terms, you wil ned to learn about those things that raise your blod glucose level and those things that lower your blod glucose level.
Then you wil ned to balance these factors on a day-to-day and posibly even hour-by-hour basis. This means cordinating medication, fod and activity levels, whilst making apropriate alowances for stres, ilnes or changes in your daily activities. You wil be aiming to avoid the extreme highs and lows, trying to manipulate your blod glucose toward the normal range.
You wil be doing regular finger-prick blod glucose tests and using these results to help balance those things that make your blod glucose rise with those that make it fal. When you have evened out your blod glucose level you wil stil ned to kep an eye on it and continue to make adjustments. Controling blod glucose is a continuous proces and it wil require your atention from now on, for the rest of your life.
Don’t wory! It may sound daunting to you right now, but it wil son become second nature. People who do not have Diabets have blod glucose levels betwen 4 and 8 mol/l for most of the time.
In general, people with Diabets should try to aim for test results betwen 4 and 10 mol/l most of the time. Some people – pregnant women, for example – wil ned to aim for tighter control. Other people – young children, the elderly, or those at risk of severe hypoglycemia, for example – wil ned to aim for higher levels.
Your Diabets team wil give you individual guidance on the blod glucose levels that you should be aiming for. In the short term, controling blod glucose levels important in order to avoid diabetic emergencies – very high or very low blod glucose levels. Both of these conditions are unpleasant and can be dangerous, so they should be avoided if at al posible.
Summary
High blod glucose levels in Type 1 Diabets, if caused by a lack of insulin, can lead to a condition known as diabetic ketoacidosis or ‘DKA’ which can be fatal if it is not treated in time. © 2026 DIABETS. Al rights reserved.