High Blood Sugar Levels - how long before dangerous?

[Tony G]

I was diagnosed type 1 three years ago at age 68, which I now know is an unusual age to become a type 1. I have had my share of high BS readings (10-15) but they have usually gone down to normal or near normal a few hours later with either insulin and/or excercise. I have an excellent diabetes nurse at my GP practice who tells me that these short-term highs are nothing to worry about and that problems only arise if these levels are sustained for periods of weeks or months - not hours or days.
Looking at the forum and talking to diabetics elsewhere, it seem this view is not always shared and even short-term highs are a cause for concern. Does anyone have facts or information on this important subject? Perhaps she is politely telling me that my age I don't have to worry about long-tem complications!!

 

[dipsticky]

Hey man. The odd high reading 'aint nothing to worry about. It's when you get them all the time, day after day. You need to check out what you are eating and what your insulin doses are. Then you can get good control of your bloods like most of the good people here. Try harder man.

D.

 

[saralover1965]

I was diagnosed type 1 three years ago at age 68, which I now know is an unusual age to become a type 1. I have had my share of high BS readings (10-15) but they have usually gone down to normal or near normal a few hours later with either insulin and/or excercise. I have an excellent diabetes nurse at my GP practice who tells me that these short-term highs are nothing to worry about and that problems only arise if these levels are sustained for periods of weeks or months - not hours or days.
Looking at the forum and talking to diabetics elsewhere, it seem this view is not always shared and even short-term highs are a cause for concern. Does anyone have facts or information on this important subject? Perhaps she is politely telling me that my age I don't have to worry about long-tem complications!!

quote from saralover ;im worried about my sugar levels at the moment its 19.7 and has been increasing over the last 5 days, im tired and lethargic,thirsty,and very hungry,should i get medical help?i dont want to bother medical services if i dont have to,sara

 

[vespa]

You should go to the Docs or Hospital, you could be showing symptoms of ketosis, if you have access to a urine dipstick, you can check that to see if Glucose is leaking into your urine, if it is then its the hospital, don't worry about bothering them, its their job and its your health, you paid for the National Health Service with your taxes, you are entitled to treatment.

 

[Riesenburg]

Hi Tony,

Oh my if I could have a word with that nurse she would get an earful! High blood sugars should be avoided like the plague (for want of a better term). The odd one here or there is acceptable but not on a regular basis. This is a field which I am studying at the moment with respect to how it impacts our brains and memory, high sugars cause brain cell death, white matter deterioration (McCall 2005) and cause impairment of the CNS (central nervous system) (McCall 1992). The studies are quite rare but in type 2s it has been found that even 20mins of hyperglyceamia caused deterioration of cognitive functioning (Sommerfiled, Deary and Frier, 2004) and both highs as well as lows cause a reduction of neural dendrites and synaptic connections (Malone et al, 2008).

Basically putting all the scientific language aside high sugars will impair brain functioning, cognition and will cause damage to the white matter and grey matter. In addition to that there is as mentioned a risk of ketosis.

If you need full references for the studies I mentioned do let me know happy to provide them.

Nurses and GPs are just lack the necessary knowledge to deal with type 1s properly. They often just panic about the hypos and ignore the hypers because the hypos have an immediate life threatening outcome. In terms of brain damage (and let's be honest we all want our brains in their best possible state!) the hypers are more dangerous since the brain can recover from mild hypos within about 30mins but the hypers seem to cause long term if not permanent damage.

Hope that answers your question,
Frankie

 

[Seanrockhill98]

Hi I haven't been testing as much as I should be and I have had a really dry mouth and just feel horrible and down when Im like this !! I know it's my fault but as a 14 year old boy it's hard !! Should I see a doctor or hospital about this ? Thanks Sean


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[picklebean]

This is a field which I am studying at the moment with respect to how it impacts our brains and memory, high sugars cause brain cell death, white matter deterioration (McCall 2005) and cause impairment of the CNS (central nervous system) (McCall 1992). The studies are quite rare but in type 2s it has been found that even 20mins of hyperglyceamia caused deterioration of cognitive functioning (Sommerfiled, Deary and Frier, 2004) and both highs as well as lows cause a reduction of neural dendrites and synaptic connections (Malone et al, 2008).

Basically putting all the scientific language aside high sugars will impair brain functioning, cognition and will cause damage to the white matter and grey matter. In addition to that there is as mentioned a risk of ketosis.

If you need full references for the studies I mentioned do let me know happy to provide them.

Hi Riesenburg... that's really interesting! My cognitive function has deteriorated over the last decade or so... I always thought it had something to do with the fact I've been on various high doses of antidepressants over the years, but now I'm thinking that perhaps it has more to do with high sugar levels.

Are these studies available to read anywhere online?... without having to pay for them, I mean!

 

[Braes]

Weird i feel nobody takes high glucose levels seriously, I have had constant high glucose reading since early December.
The diabetic clinic has put me on along with my other meds onto victoza, been on that now 2 months, blood glucose still hovering around 16-20.
They are going to test me again at the end of this month to decide if they are moving me onto insulin.
I missed a few days of work due to tiredness and generally feeling unwell, and feel fed up with the whole slow process.
I have now to attend a capability stage one at work.
Getting nowhere fast.
Mark

 

[LittleWolf]

It is kind of weird. Maybe it's because the longer you have diabetes some people get used you get to it, as opposed to someone just developing diabetes who feels super **** as soon as they start going up. I'm sad you are feeling ****** for such a long time

My t1 friend thinks nothing of hyperglycemia, even of going into 'mild' DKA. But he freaked out when he found out about my hypos. Immediate danger vs long term danger

General air of complacency feeling 'normal' with elevated BG that needs to be addressed?

I panicked having a 19 for only a couple of hours! Hope you get those numbers lower soon Many hugs and lots of love x


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[Riesenburg]

One of the big problems with Diabetes is that when it comes to cognitive impairment all the Drs used to say it didn't have any effects. had to argue no end with my GP about it. She wouldn't even send me to the Endocrinologists.

I always thought it had something to do with the fact I've been on various high doses of antidepressants over the years, but now I'm thinking that perhaps it has more to do with high sugar levels.

Well it can be both, don't quote me on this but I think depression and high sugar levels are very much linked. Insulin causes the brain to release dopamine, serotonin and a few other neurotransmitters. So if your sugars are high, according to the brain there is a lack of insulin hence it isn't releasing enough serotonin which is one of the causes of depression. Antidepressants typically only make the little that is available stay active longer but they don't increase them.

Also practically speaking, if you are high you will feel awful, that in itself is darn right depressing!

Are these studies available to read anywhere online?... without having to pay for them, I mean!

Hummm, that might be tricky, I am getting access to them via the academic license so can't just copy and paste them or I would be breaching copyrights. I'll put the full references at the end of this message you could try using google scholar, worst case you get access to the Abstracts, best case some of the studies give you full text online.

I'm actually going to be running a study on prospective memory (in the form of a questionnaire) as soon as it gets through Ethics approval so will be publishing quite a bit of diabetes/neuropsychology info via twitter and the study web page. Might be some useful information in all of that if you are interested

Frankie
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References:
McCall, A.L. (1992). The impact of diabetes on the CNS. Diabetes. 41(5):557–70.

McCall, A.L. (2004). Cerebral glucose metabolism in diabetes mellitus. European Journal of Pharmacology, Feb

McCall, A.L. (2005). Altered glycemia and brain—update and potential relevance to the aging brain. Neurobiology of Aging 26S, S70–S75

Sommerfield, A.J., Deary, IJ. and Frier, B.M.(2004). Acute hyperglycemia alters mood state and impairs cognitive performance in people with type2 diabetes. Diabetes Care. 27(10):2335–40.

Malone, J.I., Hanna, S., Saporta, S., Mervis, R.F., Park, C.R., Chong, L. and Diamond, D.M. (2008). Hyperglycemia not hypoglycemia alters neuronal dendrites and impairs spatial memory. Pediatric Diabetes 9(6) 531–539

 

[Riesenburg]

Mark,

I would suggest going straight into A&E if you are feeling bad and are that high it can get very serious very fast.

Hope it gets fixed soon!

Frankie