Blood sugar

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Blood sugar concentration, or glucose level, refers to the amount of glucose present in the blood of a human or animal. Normally, in mammals the blood glucose level is maintained at a reference range between about 3.6 and 5.8 mM (mmol/l). It is tightly regulated as a part of metabolic homeostasis.

Mean normal blood glucose levels in humans are about 90 mg/100ml, equivalent to 5mM (mmol/l) (since the molecular weight of glucose, C6H12O6, is about 180 g/mol). The total amount of glucose normally in circulating human blood is therefore about 3.3 to 7g (assuming an ordinary adult blood volume of 5 litres, plausible for an average adult male). Glucose levels rise after meals for an hour or two by a few grams and are usually lowest in the morning, before the first meal of the day. Transported via the bloodstream from the intestines or liver to body cells, Glucose is the primary source of energy for body's cells, fats and oils (ie, lipids) being primarily a compact energy store.

Failure to maintain blood glucose in the normal range leads to conditions of persistently high (hyperglycemia) or low (hypoglycemia) blood sugar. Diabetes mellitus, characterized by persistent hyperglycemia from any of several causes, is the most prominent disease related to failure of blood sugar regulation.

For more information about Blood sugar, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.


News tagged with blood glucose

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Steroid injections may slow diabetes-related eye disease

Medicine & Health / Diseases

created Dec 15, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Injecting the corticosteroid triamcinolone into the eye may slow the progression of diabetic retinopathy, a complication of diabetes that can cause vision loss and blindness, according to a report in the December issue of ...


Strict blood sugar control in some diabetics does not lower heart attack, stroke risk

Medicine & Health / Diseases

created Dec 14, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Strictly controlling blood glucose levels in type 2 diabetics with coexisting health problems such as heart disease and hypertension does not lower their risk of a heart attack or stroke, according to a UC ...


Dessert on your mind? Your muscles may be getting the message

Medicine & Health / Research

created Dec 01, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Even the anticipation of sweets may cause our muscles to start taking up more blood sugar, say researchers reporting in the December issue of Cell Metabolism. That message is delivered via neurons in the brain's hypothalamus contai ...


Association of tight glycemic control with road crashes in diabetic patients

Medicine & Health / Diseases

created Dec 08, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

A study from Canada published this week in PLoS Medicine suggests an association between tighter glycemic control and an increased risk of a motor vehicle crash in diabetic adults. Using a population-based case control analys ...


Implantable Glucose Sensor Could Spell Relief for Millions of Diabetics (w/ Video)

Implantable Glucose Sensor Could Spell Relief for Millions of Diabetics (w/ Video)

Medicine & Health / Research

created Nov 09, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (6) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- UConn researchers have developed a tiny wireless device that can be inserted under a patient?s skin to monitor blood glucose levels over a period of several months.


Lifestyle changes, drug lower type 2 diabetes risk

Medicine & Health / Health

created Oct 28, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Intensive lifestyle changes aimed at modest weight loss reduced the rate of developing type 2 diabetes by 34 percent over 10 years in people at high risk for the disease.


Testosterone Decreases after Ingestion of Sugar

Medicine & Health / Research

created Jun 14, 2009 | popularity 3.8 / 5 (8) | comments 1

Men with low testosterone should have their hormone levels retested after they fast overnight because eating may transiently lower testosterone levels, a new study concludes.


Old diabetes drug teaches experts new tricks

Medicine & Health / Research

created May 14, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Research from the Johns Hopkins Children's Center reveals that the drug most commonly used in type 2 diabetics who don't need insulin works on a much more basic level than once thought, treating persistently elevated blood ...


Researchers find possible use for the vine that ate the South

Chemistry / Other

created Sep 03, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 0

Kudzu, the fast-growing vine that has gobbled up some 10 million acres in the Southeast, may prove to be a valuable dietary supplement for metabolic syndrome, a condition that affects 50 million Americans, say researchers ...


Treating even mild gestational diabetes reduces birth complications (w/ Video)

Medicine & Health / Health

created Sep 30, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Treating pregnant women for mild gestational diabetes resulted in fewer cesarean sections and other serious birthing problems associated with larger than average babies, according to a study conducted in part at the University ...


Peptide linked to glucose metabolism and neuronal cell survival

Peptide linked to glucose metabolism and neuronal cell survival (w/ Video)

Medicine & Health / Research

created Jul 22, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (5) | comments 0

A cellular protein that may prevent nerve cells from dying also helps to improve insulin action and lower blood glucose levels, according to a study by researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of ...


Link between obesity and diabetes discovered

Medicine & Health / Research

created Jul 08, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 1

A Monash University study has proven a critical link between obesity and the onset of Type 2 diabetes, a discovery which could lead to the design of a drug to prevent the disease.


Researchers find potential cause of heart risks for shift workers

Researchers find potential cause of heart risks for shift workers

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

created Mar 03, 2009 | popularity 3.7 / 5 (3) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Harvard researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) and colleagues have identified the potential cause of the increased risk for cardiovascular and metabolic disease in shift workers. ...


The battle for CRTC2: How obesity increases the risk for diabetes

The battle for CRTC2: How obesity increases the risk for diabetes

Medicine & Health / Research

created Jun 21, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 1

Obesity is probably the most important factor in the development of insulin resistance, but science's understanding of the chain of events is still spotty. Now, researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological ...


Researchers discover novel mechanisms that might causally link type-2 diabetes to Alzheimer's disease

Medicine & Health / Diseases

created Apr 10, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 0

A recent study by Mount Sinai faculty suggests that a gene associated with onset of type-2 diabetes also decreases in Alzheimer's disease dementia cases. The research, led by Dr. Giulio Maria Pasinetti, MD, Ph.D., The Aidekman ...