A blood sugar chart that shows target values can help you quickly assess your performance with monitoring. This chart shows what to expect throughout the day if you have diabetes or not. Blood tests are the most common urine tests to measure blood sugar. They're accurate, fast, and not too painful.
A blood test machine is also called a glucometer. It's no exaggeration to say that a good home glucose meter can save the lives of people with diabetes, since monitoring with a blood sugar chart is one of the main strategies to control it. The best time to check your blood sugar levels in the morning is right after you wake up and before you eat anything. Prediabetes is a condition in which blood glucose levels are above normal, but not high enough for a diagnosis of diabetes.
Blood sugar and insulin levels during the first trimester of pregnancy tend to be lower than normal, but increase in the late second trimester and early third trimester. On the other hand, blood sugar levels that get too high are also harmful. This is called hyperglycemia. For example, when performing anaerobic exercises, such as weightlifting, many people with type 1 diabetes find it necessary to inject a small bolus of insulin before or during training, since anaerobic exercise can actually raise blood sugar levels.
With a blood glucose meter, you can regularly monitor your sugar levels and modify your lifestyle and meals accordingly. Safe blood sugar levels are high enough to supply organs with the sugar they need, but low enough to prevent symptoms of hyperglycemia or diabetes complications, according to guidelines from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). However, Scheiner highlights important factors that could justify the goal of increasing A1c, such as “ignorance of hypoglycemia,” which is described when a person with diabetes no longer feels the warning signs that are coming from low blood sugar. If your body doesn't produce enough insulin (what you're saying here might indicate), the only way to lower your blood sugar level is with medication.
It's also important to remember that blood sugar levels and A1c levels are just information that indicates whether the body needs more or less factors, such as insulin, other medications for diabetes, such as metformin, changes in nutrition, and changes in exercise. Safe ranges of blood glucose levels depend on factors such as the time of day and the last time you ate. You may want to measure your blood sugar level before meals to get a reference value and then two hours after a meal to measure your normal blood sugar level. Blood sugar levels tend to increase with age due to increased insulin resistance and decreased insulin sensitivity.
Measuring blood glucose directly with a finger prick (glucometer) or a blood draw at the doctor's office allows you to know your blood sugar level at that time, while the A1c value you obtain provides an estimate of your average blood sugar levels over the past 3 months.
