Blood Sugar

On this page

Basics

• Summary
• Start Here
• Diagnosis and Tests

Learn More

• Living With
• Related Issues
• Specifics
• Genetics

See, Play and Learn

• No links available

Research

• Statistics and Research
• Clinical Trials
• Journal Articles

Resources

• Reference Desk
• Find an Expert

For You

• Children
• Teenagers
• Women
• Patient Handouts

Summary

Blood sugar, or glucose, is the main sugar found in your blood. It comes from the food you eat, and is your body's main source of energy. Your blood carries glucose to all of your body's cells to use for energy.

Diabetes is a disease in which your blood sugar levels are too high. Over time, having too much glucose in your blood can cause serious problems. Even if you don't have diabetes, sometimes you may have problems with blood sugar that is too low or too high. Keeping a regular schedule of eating, activity, and taking any medicines you need can help.

If you do have diabetes, it is very important to keep your blood sugar numbers in your target range. You may need to check your blood sugar several times each day. Your health care provider will also do a blood test called an A1C. It checks your average blood sugar level over the past three months. If your blood sugar is too high, you may need to take medicines and/or follow a special diet.

NIH: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases

Start Here

• All about Blood Glucose (American Diabetes Association) - PDF Also in Spanish
• Blood Sugar Testing: Why, When and How (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish
• Continuous Glucose Monitoring (National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases)
• Diabetes Management: How Lifestyle, Daily Routine Affect Blood Sugar (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish
• Know Your Blood Sugar Numbers: Use Them to Manage Your Diabetes (National Diabetes Education Program) Also in Spanish
• Monitoring Your Blood Sugar Level (American Academy of Family Physicians) Also in Spanish

Diagnosis and Tests

• A1C: MedlinePlus Health Topic (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
• Blood Glucose Test (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
• Diagnosis of Diabetes and Prediabetes (National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases) Also in Spanish
• Fasting for a Blood Test (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish

Living With

• A1C and eAG (American Diabetes Association) Also in Spanish
• Blood Glucose Monitoring Devices (Food and Drug Administration)
• Blood Glucose Record (Nemours Foundation)
• Managing Diabetes: New Technologies Can Make It Easier (National Institutes of Health) Also in Spanish
• Monitor blood glucose - slideshow (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Monitoring (American Association of Diabetes Educators)
• Self-Blood Glucose Monitoring in Diabetes Mellitus (Beyond the Basics) (UpToDate)
• Tight Diabetes Control (American Diabetes Association) Also in Spanish

Related Issues

• What Is the Difference Between Hyperglycemia and Hypoglycemia? (American Foundation for the Blind)

Specifics

• Diabetes and Exercise: When to Monitor Your Blood Sugar (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish

Genetics

• Genetics Home Reference: Donohue syndrome (National Library of Medicine)
• Genetics Home Reference: Rabson-Mendenhall syndrome (National Library of Medicine)
• Genetics Home Reference: type A insulin resistance syndrome (National Library of Medicine)

Statistics and Research

• Age-Adjusted Percentage of Adults Aged 18 Years or Older with Diagnosed Diabetes Performing Daily Self-Monitoring of Blood Glucose, United States, 1994-2010 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

Clinical Trials

• ClinicalTrials.gov: Blood Glucose (National Institutes of Health)

Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

• Article: Relationship between the IADPSG-criteria-defined abnormal glucose values and adverse pregnancy...
• Article: Efficacy and safety of empagliflozin for type 2 diabetes mellitus:...
• Article: Glucose responses to acute and chronic exercise during pregnancy: a...
• Blood Sugar -- see more articles

Reference Desk

• Diabetes: Glossary of Terms (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

Find an Expert

• American Diabetes Association
• Find a Diabetes Educator (American Association of Diabetes Educators)
• National Diabetes Education Program
• National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
• NIDDK Information Clearinghouses (National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases)

Children

• Blood Test: Glucose (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
• Diabetes Control: Why It's Important (For Kids) (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
• Keeping Track of Your Blood Sugar (For Kids) (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
• Monitoring Blood Sugar: The Importance of Checking Blood Sugar Levels (Nemours Foundation)

Teenagers

• Keeping Track of Your Blood Sugar (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish

Women

• Your Glucose Meter (Food and Drug Administration) Also in Spanish

Patient Handouts

• A1C test (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Blood sugar test - blood (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Glucose screening and tolerance tests during pregnancy (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Glycemic index and diabetes (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Home blood sugar testing (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Know Your Blood Sugar Numbers: Use Them to Manage Your Diabetes (National Diabetes Education Program) Also in Spanish
• Managing your blood sugar (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish