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Hyperglycemia, hyperglycaemia, or high blood sugar is a condition in which an excessive amount of glucose circulates in the blood plasma. Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... The International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (most commonly known by the abbreviation ICD) provides codes to classify diseases and a wide variety of signs, symptoms, abnormal findings, complaints, social circumstances and external causes of injury or disease. ... The International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems 10th Revision (ICD-10) is a coding of diseases and signs, symptoms, abnormal findings, complaints, social circumstances and external causes of injury or diseases, as classified by the World Health Organization (WHO). ... The International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (most commonly known by the abbreviation ICD) provides codes to classify diseases and a wide variety of signs, symptoms, abnormal findings, complaints, social circumstances and external causes of injury or disease. ... 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 an important carbohydrate in biology. ... Blood plasma is the liquid component of blood, in which the blood cells are suspended. ...

The origin of the term is Greek: hyper-, meaning excessive; -glyc-, meaning sweet; and -emia, meaning "of the blood".

Causes

Diabetes mellitus

Chronic hyperglycemia that persists even in fasting states is most commonly caused by diabetes mellitus, and in fact chronic hyperglycemia is the defining characteristic of the disease. Acute episodes of hyperglycemia without an obvious cause may indicate developing diabetes or a predisposition to the disorder. This form of hyperglycemia is caused by low insulin levels. These low insulin levels inhibit the transport of glucose across cell membranes therefore causing high blood glucose levels. For the disease characterized by excretion of large amounts of very dilute urine, see diabetes insipidus. ...

Eating disorders

Certain eating disorders can produce acute non-diabetic hyperglycemia, as in the binge phase of bulimia nervosa, when the subject consumes a large amount of calories at once, frequently from foods that are high in simple and complex carbohydrates. Certain medications increase the risk of hyperglycemia, including beta blockers, thiazide diuretics, corticosteroids, niacin, pentamidine, protease inhibitors, L-asparaginase,^[1] and some antipsychotic agents.^[2] Eating disorders are a group of mental disorders that interfere with normal food consumption. ... Bulimia nervosa, commonly known as bulimia, is an eating disorder and psychological condition in which the subject engages in recurrent binge eating followed by feelings of guilt, depression, and self-condemnation and intentional purging to compensate for the excessive eating, usually to prevent weight gain (see anorexia nervosa). ... Carbohydrates (literally hydrates of carbon) are chemical compounds that act as the primary biological means of storing or consuming energy, other forms being fat and protein. ... Beta blockers or beta-adrenergic blocking agents are a class of drugs used to treat a variety of cardiovascular conditions and some other diseases. ... Thiazides are a class of drug that promote water loss from the body ((diuretics)). They inhibit Na+/Cl- reabsorption from the distal convoluted tubules in the kidneys. ... This illustration shows where some types of diuretics act, and what they do. ... In physiology, corticosteroids are a class of steroid hormones that are produced in the adrenal cortex. ... Niacin, also known as nicotinic acid or vitamin B3, is a water-soluble vitamin whose derivatives such as NADH, NAD, NAD+, and NADP play essential roles in energy metabolism in the living cell and DNA repair. ... Pentamidine isethionate is a drug primarily given for prevention and treatment of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP), a type of pneumonia often seen in people with HIV infection. ... Antiretroviral drugs are medications for the treatment of infection by the retrovirus HIV. Different antiretroviral drugs act at various stages of the HIV life cycle. ... Asparaginase (EC 3. ... The term antipsychotic is applied to a group of drugs used to treat psychosis. ...

A high proportion of patients suffering an acute stress such as stroke or myocardial infarction may develop hyperglycemia, even in the absence of a diagnosis of diabetes. Human and animal studies suggest that this is not benign, and that stress-induced hyperglycemia is associated with a high risk of mortality after both stroke and myocardial infarction.^[3] For other uses, see Stroke (disambiguation). ... Heart attack redirects here. ...

Times of Physiologic Stress

Hyperglycemia occurs naturally during times of infection and inflammation. When the body is stressed, endogenous catecholamines are released that - amongst other things - serve to raise the blood glucose levels. The amount of increase varies from person to person and from inflammatory response to response. As such, no patient with first-time hyperglycemia should be diagnosed immediately with diabetes if that patient is concomitantly sick. Further testing, such as a fasting plasma glucose, random plasma glucose, or two-hour postprandial plasma glucose level, must be performed. Catecholamines are chemical compounds derived from the amino acid tyrosine that act as hormones or neurotransmitters. ...

Measurement and definition

Glucose levels are measured in either:

1. Milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL), in the United States and other countries (e.g., Japan, France, Egypt, Colombia); or
2. Millimoles per liter (mmol/L), which can be acquired by dividing (mg/dL) by factor of 18.

Scientific journals are moving towards using mmol/L; some journals now use mmol/L as the primary unit but quote mg/dl in parentheses.^[4]

Comparatively:^[5]

• 72 mg/dL = 4 mmol/L
• 90 mg/dL = 5 mmol/L
• 108 mg/dL = 6 mmol/L
• 126 mg/dL = 7 mmol/L
• 144 mg/dL = 8 mmol/L
• 180 mg/dL = 10 mmol/L
• 270 mg/dL = 15 mmol/L
• 288 mg/dL = 16 mmol/L
• 360 mg/dL = 20 mmol/L
• 396 mg/dL = 22 mmol/L
• 594 mg/dL = 33 mmol/L

Glucose levels vary before and after meals, and at various times of day; the definition of "normal" varies among medical professionals. In general, the normal range for most people (fasting adults) is about 80 to 120 mg/dL or 4 to 7 mmol/L. A subject with a consistent range above 126 mg/dL or 7 mmol/L is generally held to have hyperglycemia, whereas a consistent range below 70 mg/dL or 4 mmol/L is considered hypoglycemic. 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. 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. ... Fasting is primarily the act of willingly abstaining from some or all food, drink, or both, for a period of time. ...

Chronic hyperglycemia can be measured via the HbA1c test. The definition of acute hyperglycemia varies by study, with mmol/L levels from 8 to 15.^[6][7] HbA1c is shorthand for glycated hemoglobin A1c, a surrogate marker for blood glucose levels. ...

Symptoms

The following symptoms may be associated with acute or chronic hyperglycemia, with the first three comprising the classic hyperglycaemic triad:

• Polyphagia - frequent hunger, especially pronounced hunger
• Polydipsia - frequent thirst, especially excessive thirst
• Polyuria - frequent urination, especially excessive urination
• 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 (swimmer's ear)
• Kussmaul hyperventilation: deep, rapid breathing
• Cardiac arrhythmia
• Stupor
• Coma

Frequent hunger without other symptoms can also indicate that blood sugar levels are too low. This may occur when people who have diabetes take too much oral hypoglycemic medication or insulin 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 I diabetes, especially the juvenile onset form, but it makes the prescription of oral hypoglycemic medication difficult to manage. Phagy or phagia is an ecological term that is used to identify particular nutritional systems. ... Polydipsia is a medical condition in which the patient ingests abnormally large amounts of fluids by mouth. ... Polyuria is the passage of a large volume of urine in a given period. ... The word fatigue is used in everyday living to describe a range of afflictions, varying from a general state of lethargy to a specific work induced burning sensation within muscle. ... Weight loss, in the context of medicine or health or physical fitness, is a reduction of the total body weight, due to a mean loss of fluid, body fat or adipose tissue and/or lean mass, namely bone mineral deposits, muscle, tendon and other connective tissue. ... Superficial bullet wounds In medicine, a wound is a 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). ... For other uses, see Mouth (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Skin (disambiguation). ... 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. ... Cardiac arrhythmia is any of a group of conditions in which the electrical activity of the heart is irregular or is faster or slower than normal. ... This article is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedias deletion policy. ... For other uses, see Coma (disambiguation). ...

Polydipsia and polyuria occur when blood glucose levels rise high enough to result in excretion of excess glucose via the kidneys (glycosuria), producing osmotic diuresis. Diuresis is the production of urine by the kidney. ...

Symptoms of acute hyperglycemia may include:

• Ketoacidosis
• A decreased level of consciousness or confusion
• Dehydration due to glycosuria and osmotic diuresis
• Acute hunger and/or thirst
• Impairment of cognitive function, along with increased sadness and anxiety^[8][9]

It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Diabetic ketoacidosis. ...

Treatment

Treatment of hyperglycemia requires elimination of the underlying cause, e.g., treatment of diabetes when diabetes is the cause. Acute and severe hyperglycemia can be treated by direct administration of insulin in most cases, under medical supervision.

See also

• Hypoglycemia
• Glucose
• Diabetes

Hypoglycemia (hypoglycaemia in British English) is a medical term referring to a pathologic state produced by a lower than normal level of glucose (sugar) in the blood. ... Glucose (Glc), a monosaccharide (or simple sugar), is an important carbohydrate in biology. ... This article is about the disease that features high blood sugar. ...

References

A digital object identifier (or DOI) is a standard for persistently identifying a piece of intellectual property on a digital network and associating it with related data, the metadata, in a structured extensible way. ... A digital object identifier (or DOI) is a standard for persistently identifying a piece of intellectual property on a digital network and associating it with related data, the metadata, in a structured extensible way. ...

External links

• High blood sugar “Hyperglycemia” article from the Diabetes Care Group
• Symptoms of hyperglycemia