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KEY POINTS
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High blood glucose (sugar) means that the level of glucose in your child’s blood is higher than recommended. High blood glucose can be serious if it's not treated. If your child’s blood glucose runs too high for months or years, it can cause problems with your child’s heart, eyes, kidneys, nerves, and blood vessels. A very high blood glucose can cause life-threatening problems.
The medical term for high blood glucose is hyperglycemia.
Your child’s body breaks down some of the foods your child eats into glucose. The blood carries the glucose to the cells of the body. Your child needs some glucose in the cells for energy, but too much or too little glucose in the blood causes symptoms and is not good for your child’s health. Insulin is a hormone made by the pancreas, which is an organ in the upper belly. The body uses insulin to help move glucose from the blood into the cells. When your child’s body does not make enough insulin or has trouble using the insulin the body makes, glucose cannot get into the cells and builds up in your child’s blood. Blood glucose levels that stay high cause the health problems that happen with diabetes.
Sometimes your child may have high blood glucose levels even though your child is taking diabetes medicine. This can happen for many reasons, but it always means that your child’s diabetes is not in good control. Some reasons why blood glucose might go too high are:
High blood glucose may not cause symptoms, especially if it is brief. However, if your child’s blood glucose gets very high and stays that high for a day or longer, your child may have symptoms. Symptoms may include:
Very high blood glucose (600 mg/dL or higher) can cause coma and even death.
The level of glucose in your child’s blood can be measured with blood tests at home or at your healthcare provider’s office.
When your child has diabetes, glucose levels before and after meals will be based on your child’s age, type of diabetes, and medicines, as well as on individual target range set by your child’s healthcare provider.
A1C results may also be given as the eAG or estimated average glucose. You can use your child’s A1C results and the chart below to know what your child’s average blood glucose has been.
A1C Estimated Average Glucose (eAG) --------------------------------------------- 7 154 mg/dL 8 183 mg/dL 9 212 mg/dL 10 240 mg/dL 11 269 mg/dL 12 298 mg/dL ---------------------------------------------
Very high blood glucose can be a medical emergency. Ask your healthcare provider what a very high blood glucose would be for your child. Your child may need to stay at the hospital to get blood glucose levels back to normal, to treat the cause of the high blood glucose, and to treat any problems caused by the high blood glucose such as dehydration.
High blood glucose caused by medicines your child is taking usually goes away when your child stops taking the medicine. Never stop giving your child medicine without talking to your child’s healthcare provider. The provider may be able to change the type or amount of medicine your child takes. Depending on the medicine, it may take days to weeks for blood glucose to go back to the proper levels.
If your child is changing or skipping his or her insulin doses to lose weight, talk to your child’s diabetes healthcare provider or a mental health provider. This behavior is dangerous and can be a sign of diabetes distress, fear of low blood glucose levels, an eating disorder, or other mental health issues.
Follow your child’s healthcare provider's directions carefully to keep your child’s blood glucose levels in a normal range. This usually means your child needs to:
Ask your healthcare provider:
Make sure you know when your child should come back for a checkup. Keep all appointments for provider visits or tests.