Why the Heck Is Blood Sugar So Important?

The human body is a very sophisticated mechanism that provides glucose to the cells in order for them to function and provide energy to muscles. Sugar in the blood is inaccessible to the cells without insulin. To use the glucose or other sugars like fructose or maltose, the cells must also have insulin. Insulin allows the glucose and other sugars to enter the cell. As long as the sugar remains in the blood it cannot provide energy to muscles or organs. Extremes in blood sugar readings are an indication you need to see a doctor.

What happens when the glucose levels are too high?

The danger to the organs like the eyes, the kidneys, the heart, and the brain, comes from the fluid that accompanies the sugar. When the organs require sugar to function, the sugar is circulating in the blood, but the cells cannot access it without sufficient insulin. The cells continue to receive the sugar, but since they cannot use the sugar, the fluid swells the cells and causes them to rupture.

Once, my glasses became ineffective. I thought things were odd because I could see better without them than with them. When I went to the eye doctor, he immediately asked me if I had become diabetic. I had just been diagnosed the week before. He explained that the rise in blood sugar caused more fluid to collect in my eye making it rounder than it would have been. I could see better, but it was because of the more dangerous high blood sugar. When the fluid increases it other cells, they, too, overfill with fluid. The damage it is not evident for a while, but over time sensitive organs are impaired.

What happens when glucose levels are too low?

Low blood sugar is called Hypoglycemia. It may be caused by too much insulin either from too much insulin in an injection or failure to eat enough food to provide glucose or by too much insulin produced in the pancreas. Patients who chronically experience low blood sugar but do not take insulin may be over-producing insulin in the pancreas. The remedy for this condition is frequent meals or snacks. Damage from low blood sugar may be very quick and highly dangerous. Low blood sugar can be fatal. Generally it causes these symptoms in increasing severity: weariness, weakness, dry mouth, disorientation, blurred vision, and coma.

The normal reading is about 70 to 120 on the machine which uses a small drop of your blood to test the concentration of glucose. Different labs and doctors use slightly different limits. If you have tested your glucose levels and find the numbers to be consistently above or below this range, consult a doctor for full evaluation.

To answer the question posed in the title, blood sugar readings are important because either too low or too high will kill you. Low is faster, but high will still get the job done.