I am a newly diagnosed type 1 diabetic and doing research into how to manage everything. I keep seeing to keep blood sugar under 180mg/dl and damage starts there. But why?
Wouldn’t everyone be different? Also what is so damaging at that number? I understand the damage to the kidneys overworking to clean the sugar out but why would it hurt blood vessels in the extremities and eyes?
Is it just that the sugar thickens the blood too much or something?
Basically I understand that high blood sugar causes damage but why? And why specifically at 180mg/dl?
In: Biology
Glucose (i.e. “blood sugar”) *itself* becomes toxic at high concentrations. It literally starts to damage blood vessels, so if the problem is chronic then it leads to all sorts of downstream problems like heart disease, kidney damage, nerve damage, eye problems, etc.
Why 180mg/dL? Because as the saying goes in toxicology: “the dose makes the poison.” High enough concentrations of *anything* are bad for your health. That ~180mg/dL line is just where glucose starts to be a problem.
Latest Answers