Goals of Diabetes treatment
- To keep the blood glucose as normal as possible without serious high or low blood glucose
- To prevent tissue damage caused by too much glucose in the bloodstream over the long term
Normal ranges for blood glucose
People who don’t have diabetes or pre-diabetes keep their blood glucose between 60 – 100 mg/dl overnight and before meals, and less than 140 mg/dl after meals. Although the ultimate goal of Diabetes management is to return the blood glucose to the natural or non-diabetes levels, this may be difficult without excessive low blood glucose or hypoglycemia.
What are the blood glucose targets for Diabetes?
The ADA recommendations are general guidelines and may be modified according to individual situations. Discuss with your medical provider what treatment goals are best for you. For example, if you are not taking any medications or your Diabetes treatment doesn’t increase the risk of low blood glucose your provider may recommend that you keep your blood glucose in the normal range or closer to the normal range. Pregnant women or women thinking about getting pregnant also have lower blood glucose targets.
When you have Diabetes and are treated with insulin replacement therapy or medications that increase insulin release from your pancreas, the insulin levels in your bloodstream are imperfectly matched to how much insulin you need and there is always a risk of having too much insulin effect. Too much insulin effect can cause low blood glucose or hypoglycemia. To minimize this risk, your provider may recommend that you target higher blood glucose such as a pre-meal blood glucose of 90-130 mg/dl and post-meal blood glucose of less than 180 mg/dl.
The ultimate treatment goal for Diabetes is to re-create normal (non-diabetic) or NEARLY normal blood glucose levels – without causing low blood glucose. Optimal blood glucose management requires that you know and understand a few general numbers. The numbers measure how much glucose is in your blood at certain times of the day and represent what the American Diabetes Association believes are the best ranges to prevent complications.
American Diabetes Association Recommendations
[table id=3 /]*Hemoglobin (A1c) is a measure of your average blood glucose control over the previous 3 months. Think of the A1c as a long-term blood glucose measure that changes very gradually.
Of course, these are general standards for everyone with Diabetes - both Type 1 as well as Type 2. Ask your diabetes team for personalized goals and blood glucose monitoring recommendations. For example: When you have Type 1 Diabetes you are treated with insulin replacement therapy. The goal is to replace the insulin in the right amount and at the right time. Sometimes, more insulin than needed is taken and this will cause hypoglycemia. To minimize this risk, many providers will recommend that individuals treated with insulin target a pre-meal blood glucose of 90-130 mg/dl and post-meal blood glucose of less than 180 mg/dl. Also, if you are experiencing a lot of hypoglycemia or have hypoglycemic unawareness your provider may suggest you target higher blood glucose levels. In contrast, pregnant women or women thinking about getting pregnant will have lower blood glucose targets.