Short & long term consequences (summary)

Hyperglycaemia

This means a higher-than-normal amount of glucose in the blood. This is usually above 7 mmol/L before a meal and above 8.5 mmol/L two hours after a meal.

What causes hyperglycaemia?

• You may have missed a dose of your medication.
• You may have eaten more carbohydrates than either your body or medication (or both) can cope with.
• You are stressed.
• You are unwell from an infection.
• You have over-treated hypoglycaemia.

Symptoms

• Being more thirsty than usual.
• Going to the toilet to urinate more often.
• Feeling tired or being low in energy.
• Having blurred vision.
• Getting headaches.

Hypoglycaemia

This means a low level of blood glucose, usually below 4 mmol/L. When your blood sugar is too low, your body does not have enough energy to work as well as it should. This is called a ‘hypo’.

What causes hypoglycaemia?

• Some medicines can cause a ‘hypo’.
• Missing a meal.
• Exercise.
• Too much medicine.
• Stress.

Symptoms:

You may get warning signs in your body that your blood glucose levels are too low. These can be:

• Feeling hungry.
• Having trembling hands.
• Shakiness.
• Sweating.
• Finding it hard to think.
• Finding it hard to focus on tasks.

It is possible to have a ‘hypo’ when you are sleeping. You may wake up with damp bed sheets. You may also feel like you have not slept well. You may still feel tired.

If you have too much glucose in your blood it can cause long-term damage to the body.

There are two types of complications:

• Microvascular complications – these can affect your eyes, kidneys, and nerves.
• Macrovascular complications – these can affect your brain, heart, and limbs.

Having blood sugar that is too high for too long can increase the risk of damage to the following body systems:

• Brain. It can increase the risk of a stroke.
• Heart. It can increase blood pressure. This can lead to heart disease.
• Limbs. The blood vessels can narrow. This can reduce the flow of blood to your legs and feet. It can mean that any scratches, sores or wounds on your legs and feet can take longer to heal than normal.
• Eyes. High blood pressure and glucose can damage your eye vessels. This is called retinopathy and glaucoma.
• Kidneys. High blood pressure can damage small blood vessels. The high levels of glucose can also cause your kidneys to work too hard. This causes damage to the kidney, which is called nephropathy.
• Nerves. High blood sugar can cause damage to your nerves. This is called neuropathy. This can cause pain, tingling or numbness, especially in the hands and feet. Wounds on the feet may not be noticed. This means they have a higher risk of getting infected. This can cause gangrene.