Why does High Blood Sugar kill?

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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

10 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

For me, I understand it this way (as a type one diabetic)

when my blood gets too high, each of my cells has more sugar than what it’s supposed to. This is why you get thirsty. your cells take in water to try to balance out how much sugar there is in there. Your cells can swell, and if you go into DKA your blood can become acidic. This is all in the short term, but still.

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