, also known as blood glucose levels, are a measure of the amount of sugar, or glucose, in a person's blood. For a person with diabetes, these numbers are crucial and often monitored several times a day.
Definition
Glucose is measured in milligrams per deciliter, or mg/dL. Mg represents the amount of glucose sugar and dL represents 1 deciliter of blood.
Test
Most diabetics use small hand-held devices called monitors or meters. A small prick on the finger or arm produces enough blood for the device to measure their sugar levels. Some people use small lasers that can pierce the skin while others take advantage of monitoring systems that are attached to their bodies to constantly measure blood sugar levels.
Pre-meal Levels
Generally speaking, blood sugar levels of a person who has not eaten a meal yet in the day should be somewhere between 80mg/dL and 130mg/dL, though this number can vary by person.
Post-meal Levels
After a meal or snack, blood sugar levels naturally rise but should generally stay below 180mg/dL or less, depending on the person and the meal.
Fluctuations
Just as people are unique, so are their glucose levels. This is why there are ranges of levels and not static numbers. Diabetics also have a variety of conditions unique to themselves. Only a physician can determine the right blood glucose levels for an individual diabetic.
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