Hyperglycemia or High Blood Sugar is a condition in which an excessive amount of glucose circulates in the blood plasma. The term is from Greek: hyper-, prefix meaning "too much"; -glyc-, root meaning "sweet"; -emia, suffix meaning "of the blood". The International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (commonly known by the abbreviation ICD) is a detailed description of known diseases and injuries. ... The following codes are used with International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems. ... The International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (commonly known by the abbreviation ICD) is a detailed description of known diseases and injuries. ... The following is a list of codes for International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems. ... Glucose (Glc), a monosaccharide (or simple sugar), is one of the most important carbohydrates in biology. ... Blood plasma is the liquid component of blood, in which the blood cells are suspended. ...

Causes

Diabetes

Hyperglycemia is one of the classic causes of diabetes mellitus, the others being frequent and excessive thirst accompanied by frequent and excessive urination. But hyperglycemia is not exclusive to diabetes mellitus, and can often occur independently in the context of many other medical conditions. For the disease characterized by excretion of large amounts of severely diluted urine, see diabetes insipidus. ...

Diabetes mellitus occurs in two forms: Type I, which is an auto-immune disease of unknown cause, in which the body's own antibodies attack and destroy the insulin-producing Beta-cells in the Islets of Langerhans (specialised endocrine cells within the pancreas). Type II, is due to a combination of defective insulin secretion and defective responsiveness to insulin (often termed reduced insulin sensitivity). For the disease characterized by excretion of large amounts of severely diluted urine, see diabetes insipidus. ... Autoimmune diseases arise from an overactive immune response of the body against substances and tissues normally present in the body. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... The endocrine (i. ... The endocrine system is a control system of ductless endocrine glands that secrete chemical messengers called hormones that circulate within the body via the bloodstream to affect distant organs. ... The pancreas is an organ in the digestive system that serves two major functions: exocrine - producing pancreatic juice containing digestive enzymes. ...

Non-organic diabetes mellitus can be caused by accidental damage to the pancreas itself, or by other diseases affecting the pancreas, such as pancreatic cancer and other causes of pancreatic failure (which, thus, causes the islets to fail); or by surgical removal of the pancreas (thus, of the islets), usually for one of the reasons noted above. Pancreatic cancer (also called cancer of the pancreas) is a malignant tumour within the pancreatic gland. ...

Non-diabetic hyperglycemia

The most common cause of chronic non-diabetic hyperglycemia is obesity, the cure for which is proper diet and exercise to reduce the body's excess white fat reserves. The presence of excessive white fat reserves interferes with the body's ability to properly absorb and use insulin that is otherwise produced in sufficient quantity. Chronic non-diabetic hyperglycemia can produce some of the same complications as diabetic hyperglycemia; however, some of the complications of diabetes mellitus (especially juvenile-onset diabetes mellitus) can occur even if blood sugar levels are kept under control, because the disease operates beyond just the condition of hyperglycemia.

Certain eating disorders can produce acute non-diabetic hyperglycemia, as in the binge phase of bulimia nervosa, when the subject consumes an incredible number of calories at once, frequently from foods that are high in both simple and complex carbohydrates - the body simply having a fierce craving for the energy that carbohydrates provide. Bulimia nervosa, more commonly known as bulimia, is an eating disorder. ...

History

Diabetes is Greek for "passing through" (i.e., frequent and excessive thirst and urination; and Mellitus is Latin for "honey-sweet.") Historically, diabetes was a collective name for a number of diseases, each of which affected a different endocrine gland but all of which had in common the classic symptoms of frequent and excessive thirst accompanied by frequent and excessive urination. Except for diabetes mellitus and diabetes insipidus, the other diabetic diseases have been renamed. A disease is any abnormal condition of the body or mind that causes discomfort, dysfunction, or distress to the person affected or those in contact with the person. ... An endocrine gland is one of a set of internal organs involved in the secretion of hormones into the blood. ... The term symptom (from the Greek syn = con/plus and pipto = fall, together meaning co-exist) has two similar meanings in the context of physical and mental health: A symptom can be a physical condition which shows that one has a particular illness or disorder (see e. ... Diabetes insipidus (DI) is a disease characterized by excretion of large amounts of severely diluted urine, which cannot be reduced when fluid intake is reduced. ...

Measurement

Glucose levels are measured in either:

1. Milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL), in the United States and other countries (Myanmar, Liberia) that do not yet use the International or "Metric" System of measurement; or,

2. Millimoles per liter (mmol/L) in the rest of the "metrified world." Metrication, or metrification, is the process of converting from the various other systems of units used throughout the world (especially the Imperial or American systems, originating in the United Kingdom) to the metric or SI (Système International) system. ...

Comparatively:

• 72 mg/dL = 4 mmol/L
• 90 mg/dL = 5 mmol/L
• 108 mg/dL = 6 mmol/L
• 126 mg/dL = 7 mmol/L

Glucose levels vary before and after meals, and at various times of day; and what is "normal" varies among medical professionals, and can vary between patients. (As in other facets of life, the "average patient" does not exist as a real person.) In general, the "home" normal range for most people is about 80 to 120 mg/dL or 4 to 7 mmol/L.

A subject with a "home" range above 126 mg/dL or 7 mmol/L is generally held to have hyperglycemia, whereas a "home" range below 70 mg/dL or 4 mmol/L is considered hypoglycemic. Hypoglycemia is a medical term referring to a pathologic state produced and usually defined by a lower than normal amount of sugar (glucose) in the blood. ...

In fasting adults, blood plasma glucose should not exceed 126 mg/dL or 7 mmol/L. Sustained higher levels of blood sugar cause damage to the blood vessels and to the organs they supply, leading to the complications of diabetes. It has been suggested that Fast Day be merged into this article or section. ...

Common Symptoms of Diabetic Hyperglycemia

If you have diabetes mellitus, the presence of these symptoms can indicate that blood sugar levels are too high:

• Polyphagia (frequent hunger, especially pronounced hunger)
• Polydipsia (frequent thirst, especially excessive thirst)
• Polyuria (frequent urination, especially excessive urination)

But caution: Frequent hunger without the other two symptoms (which invariably occur together, absent renal complications, bladder infections, etc.), can also indicate that blood sugar levels are too low. This commonly occurs when people who have type 2 diabetes mellitus take too much oral hypoglycemic medication for the amount of food they eat. The resulting drop in blood sugar level to below the normal range prompts a hunger response. This hunger is not usually as pronounced as in type 1 diabetes mellitus (especially the juvenile onset form). Phagy or phagia is an ecological term that is used to identify particular nutritional systems. ... Polydipsia is a medical term meaning abnormally large (poly-) intake of fluids by mouth. ... Polyuria is the passage of a large volume of urine in a given period. ...

People with chronic non-diabetic hyperglycemia who take oral hypoglycemic medication can have the same problem (again, not as pronounced a hunger. In particular, if the hyperglycemia is caused by obesity, prescription of oral hypoglycemic medication can be ill advised. This is because the medication typically interferes with the subject's weight reduction plan by artificially lowering the blood sugar levels, so that a strong hunger response occurs when the subject attempts to naturally lower the blood sugar levels through a programme of proper diet and exercise. A vicious cycle can result, in which the more the subject exercises to lose weight, the greater the hunger caused by the medication, so that subject eats more to compensate for the oral hypoglycemic and, thus, cannot lose weight. The average blood sugar levels thus do not change, which can lead to an increase in the dosage of the oral hypglycemic medication, which only perpetuates the problem.

Other symptoms of diabetic hyperglycemia may include:

• Blurred vision
• Fatigue
• Weight loss
• Poor wound healing (cuts, scrapes, etc.)
• Dry mouth
• Dry or itchy skin
• Impotence (male)
• Recurrent infections such as vaginal yeast infections, groin rash, or external ear infections (swimmers ear)

These symptoms do not normally occur with acute non-diabetic hyperglycemia (it just doesn't last long enough), but some of them can occur in chronic non-diabetic hyperglycemia. The notable exception is weight loss, which almost never happens in chronic non-diabetic hyperglycemia - especially if the hyperglycemia is caused by obesity. Instead, the subject either maintains a stable obese weight, or gains weight. This is one of the ways non-diabetic hyperglycemia can be distinguished from diabetic hyperglycemia. Fatigue may refer to: Fatigue (physical) - tiredness in humans Fatigue (material) - failure by repeated stress in materials Fatigues (uniform) - military uniform (BDU or ACU) Chronic Fatigue Syndrome - a medical condition Battle fatigue - also known as Post-traumatic stress disorder Readers fatigue - a side-effect of parsing poorly formatted textual... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Superficial bullet wounds A wound is type of physical trauma wherein the skin is torn, cut or punctured (an open wound), or where blunt force trauma causes a contusion (a closed wound). ... Look up Mouth in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... In zootomy and dermatology, skin is an organ of the integumentary system made up of multiple layers of epithelial tissues that guard underlying muscles and organs. ... Impotence or, more clinically, erectile dysfunction is the inability to develop or maintain an erection of the penis for satisfactory sexual intercourse regardless of the capability of ejaculation. ... An infection is the detrimental colonization of a host organism by a foreign species. ...

Nursing Intervention

Hyperglycemia

• Seek urgent medical advice
• Give fluids without sugar
• Continue insulin
• Continue tests

See also

• Hypoglycemia
• Diabetes
• diabetic coma

Hypoglycemia (hypoglycæmia in the UK) is a medical term referring to a pathologic state produced by a lower than normal amount of sugar (glucose) in the blood. ... This article is about the disease that features high blood sugar. ... Diabetic coma is a medical emergency in which a person with diabetes mellitus is comatose (unconscious) because of one of three acute complications of diabetes: Severe diabetic hypoglycemia Advanced diabetic ketoacidosis advanced enough to result in unconsciousness from a combination of severe hyperglycemia, dehydration and shock, and exhaustion Hyperosmolar nonketotic...

External links

• High blood sugar “Hyperglycemia” Article from the Diabetes Care Group.