Glucose is the body's main source of energy. Its blood level is regulated by insulin. Find out what the glucose standards are in the blood chemistry test and what may be evidence of too low or too high blood glucose levels.
The blood glucose level in blood chemistryis determined primarily when diabetes is suspected and its control. We get glucose from food - from foods rich in carbohydrates, i.e. sugars, e.g. fruits, vegetables, and some of the glucose also comes from fat.
The body stores glucose in the liver or makes it from amino acids (building blocks of proteins). Blood glucose is regulated by a hormone called insulin, which is produced by the pancreas. When the blood sugar level in the body rises (for example after a meal), insulin lowers it. When the body's need for sugar increases, its secretion is triggered by other hormones, such as: thyroxin (thyroid hormone), cortisol (produced in the adrenal cortex, i.e. the outer layer of the adrenal glands, is the so-called stress hormone, secreted in parallel with adrenaline), growth hormone, glucagon ( Like the insulin produced in the pancreas, epinephrine (also called adrenaline (the fight or flight hormone - it's created in the adrenal glands).
Glucose: norms in a biochemical test
The standard for glucose in a biochemical test is:
- for adults - 3.9-6.4 mmol / l
- newborns - 2.8-4.4 mmol / l
- children 3.9-58 mmol / l
Increase in blood glucose: causes
Increase in blood glucose means:
- diabetes type I and II and diabetes in pregnant women
- glucose tolerance disorder
- acute or chronic pancreatitis
- pancreatic cancer
- disorders in the work of the pituitary gland
- adrenal gland disorders
Increased blood glucose levels can also be caused by the administration of adrenaline or extensive burns of the body (but only in the first 24 hours).
Drop in blood glucose
The reduction in blood glucose levels occurs after an overdose of insulin or oral antidiabetic drugs by diabetics or in the case of refusal of food after administration of the drug. The decrease in glucose level also accompanies the hormonal insufficiency of the pituitary and adrenal glands, it appears in patients after the removal of part or all of thestomach, in intolerance to fructose - simple sugar, contained, among others in fruit or honey, it appears in toxic liver damage and is quite characteristic of alcoholism.
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