Blood Glucose Level:
Blood glucose level is the level of glucose present in the blood. Apart from its presence in the blood, glucose is also stored in the liver and the skeletal muscles. Blood glucose levels are generally measured in molar concentration. The units for the molar concentration is mmol/L, which means millimoles per liter. This is the international standard. However, in countries like USA, Germany, and others, blood glucose level is measured in mass concentration. The units for this is mg/dL, which is milligrams per deciliter. The difference between these two units is a factor of 18. It means that 18 mg/dL of glucose is equal to a unit of mmol/L (1 mmol/L). The body always tries to maintain a balance in terms of blood glucose levels. This is called glucose homeostasis (See: Glucose homeostasis). However, there are many factors that influence the blood glucose levels (See: Blood glucose). The normal blood glucose levels, though there are fluctuations, vary between 70 to 100 mg/dL for fasting blood glucose. Blood glucose levels when compared to the venous blood differs from the arterial and capillary blood after consumption of foods. They are much higher than the blood glucose levels of venous blood. The reason for this is the absorption of glucose from the food. The capillary blood has 35% more concentration of blood glucose than the venous blood. The measurement of blood glucose level is done with the serum and plasma glucose levels. The serum is collected by using a centrifuge. Since the serum has more water content, it has more dissolved glucose in it. Blood glucose level is measured by chemical methods and by the usage of enzymes. The process that uses enzymes is more accurate than the chemical method. In this method, hexokinase and glucose oxidase are used. Blood glucose levels can also be measured in the form of an average. Called the glycated hemoglobin (See: A1c test), it measures the average blood glucose level for the span of 120 days. For people with diabetes, maintenance of recommended blood glucose levels is the goal of the treatment.
