Fw: How Does Heat Affect Your Blood Sugar Levels and Your Drugs?

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How Does Heat Affect Your Blood Sugar Levels and Your Drugs?

>I have for some time wondered if all type II diabetics feel the heat as

>badly as I do in summer, and if so, how authentic are the claims that there

>is a link between exposure to heat and excessively high blood sugars?

>

> this past week-end, I was urged to look at this question even closer.

> Normally, my blood sugars range between 5 and 8 Mmol/l, which, in North

> American terms, translates into a range of between 90 and 126 MG/DL, and

> with the luxury of rounding up, perhaps, even, between 90 and 130 MG/DL.

>

> We have just experienced an excessively hot and humid week-end, and my

> fasting sugars were higher than my accepted norm which is between 5 and 6

> or between 90 and 110. The one on Saturday morning, which ran at 6.7

> (121), I attributed to the fact that I was at a braai the previous night,

> promoting the meat of a particular butchery and that I enjoyed myself

> there a tad more than I ought to have. While I recorded readings which

> were rather close to the top end of my range for the remaining two tests

> of the day, I was not over due concerned. What did concern me however, is

> the fact that at this time of the year, I seem to have a huge battle on my

> hands, trying to keep my fasting sugar levels between 5 and 6 (90 and 110)

> and more often than not, I have been losing this battle.

>

> My fasting sugar on the Sunday was 6.6 and I had not done anything

> outrageous the previous day. The reading did puzzle me a bit as did many

> of my other unacceptably high fasting sugars, but I was not concerned

> enough to really get up and look into the matter. I just assumed that it

> could possibly be attributable to the heat and left the matter at that.

>

> I went to church and nearly fainted in the service on account of the heat.

> I came home afterwards and just collapsed on the bed till lunch time.

> However, when I did my test, I got scared out of my bracket, for the

> result returned, was 11.3 (203). On account of just feeling faint on

> account of the heat, I decided to stay at home on Sunday night. Despite my

> efforts to just keep quiet, my evening result was even worse, being 11.6

> (209).

>

> This morning, my fasting sugar was 4.7 which represents a 6.9 drop from

> last night. Needless to say, I had no energy nor the desire to do anything

> and even writing this email, is a huge effort on my part.

>

> Nevertheless, I was finally motivated to try and get my backside into gear

> and research this question on Google. I came up with an article, which I

> must say, must not be treated as the absolute definitive authority on the

> question, although it is a valuable piece of information to keep at the

> back of your head as a diabetic in the event of extreme hot summer's days.

> I have come to the conclusion that there is not a precisely determined

> result that heat has on blood sugar levels, but that at least, there is a

> very definite impact that heat does have on blood sugars, possibly leading

> to higher readings and even possibly leading to lower readings.

>

> The explanation for the higher readings could be that the body sweats and

> that there is a loss of fluid increasing the sugar levels in the blood

> stream. Even if you are not a prolific sweater, it should also be

> remembered that it is an established physiological fact (and I studied

> physiology as one of my matric subjects at school, where we learnt these

> things, even back in the 70's), that there is something called an

> invisible persperation. In otherwords, a person may perspire, but because

> there is not an excessive amount of liquid with the persperation, the bit

> that there is, evaporates quickly and is therefore not obviously

> noticeable.

>

> The explanation for lower sugar readings during excessively hot and humid

> spells of weather is the fact that a lower metabolism rate, which may also

> be prevalent in the previous instance mentioned, is more dominant than the

> sweat factor. It should be understood that the one does not exclude the

> other. On the contrary, for one or the other to be valid, they would have

> to both co-exist.

>

> Lower metabolism means that less glucose is needed by the body, with the

> result that less glycogen is converted into glucose, giving rise to higher

> insulin levels and therefore, there is less glucose in the blood stream,

> giving rise to the possible scenario that even though the body still needs

> glucose, there might actually be insufficient glucose to be consumed by

> the body cells, leading to hypoglycaemia, or blood sugars which are too

> low.

>

> For the reasons I have just mentioned, the article below, cannot be

> regarded as a definitive answer to the question as to what effect

> excessive heat and humidity have on blood sugar levels, but it can be

> accepted for Gospel, that it does have an impact on blood sugar levels.

>

> Before reproducing this article, I have also checked the author out. It

> would appear that the author is talking sense since there is nothing in

> the article itself, that strikes me as being out of the ordinary. Much of

> what is written there, I already knew.

>

> I have not only written this email to folks who I know, are diabetic and

> people who are involved with diabetes, but I have also blind carbon copied

> it to my forwards list in general, since this is a thing which I believe,

> if not recognised, could have consequences of tragic proportions. Chances

> are that people on my forwards list will come across diabetics and could

> find this little piece of information very useful.

>

> Finally, if you are having problems with this kind of thing, don't take my

> word on the subject as being the definitive word. I still want to conduct

> a couple of experiments on myself, to validate the claims--my

> experimentation being confined to implementing the recommendations of the

> article below, implied or otherwise, strictly and monitoring the results.

> I would suggest that if you have this problem, you should test regularly,

> and discuss the matter with your doctor, diabetic nursing practitioner or

> diabetic counsellor, as the case may be.

>

> I have reproduced the link and, for the benefit of those who work on

> computers where access to the internet is restricted, the text of the

> article below my signature. In the meantime, for those of my readers who

> are currently experiencing hot and humid weather, keep cool, calm and

> collected; and for the rest, keep warm.

>

> --

> Park

> " I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God Than dwell in the

> tents of wickedness. " (psalm 84:10 NKJV).

>

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>

> How Does Heat Affect Your Blood Sugar Levels and Your Drugs?

>

http://ezinearticles.com/?How-Does-Heat-Affect-Your-Blood-Sugar-Levels-and-Your-\

Drugs? & id=4693679

>

> Type 2 diabetics are especially susceptible to the effects of summer heat.

> If blood sugar levels are not kept in check, dehydration is a very real

> danger. Every summer, hundreds of thousands of type 2 diabetics have to

> make a trip to the emergency room to be re-hydrated... and millions of

> type 2 diabetics ruin their medications or testing supplies by exposing

> them to the heat.

>

> Most Type 2 diabetics don't realize that the temperature outside does not

> have to be 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius) or even more before

> there is a danger of heat-related illness. Most diabetics have an impaired

> ability to sweat. If there is high humidity, even 80 to 90 degrees F (27

> to 32 degrees C), can bring on heatstroke or dehydration. Every year

> people with Type 2 diabetes die because they did not know they could not

> stand a " little " heat.

>

> Signs and symptoms of heat exhaustion include:

>

> • dizziness or even fainting

> • muscle cramps

> • cool, clammy skin

> • headaches

> • nausea

> • a rapid heartbeat

>

> Three Tips to Help Avoid Dehydration:

>

> 1. Check your blood sugar levels often when it is hot; both high and low

> blood sugar levels can be be a problem during the heat.

>

> 2. Take care with exercising... it is best to exercise early in the

> morning or in the evening when the temperatures are lower... miss exercise

> during the daytime altogether when the temperatures are high.

>

> 3. Drink plenty of water, add lemon slices to help it taste refreshing.

> Fruit juice and sports drinks are loaded with sugar and can add to the

> problem.

>

> Medications Can be Affected by the Summer Heat Also:

>

> 1. Summer heat is also harmful to diabetic medications, especially

> insulin. More than about an hour of exposure to 98 degree F (37 degree C)

> heat ruins insulin. Leaving a vial of insulin in your car with the windows

> rolled up can ruin it in minutes. Heat inside an unventilated vehicle can

> run as high as 140 to 160 degrees F (50 to 60 degrees C). But insulin is

> not the only medication that can be ruined by heat.

>

> 2. Oral diabetes medications, test strips, and test meters likewise can be

> ruined by heat.

>

> The solution is not to leave these supplies at home during the summer. It

> is best to carry a glucometer with you, especially if there is danger of

> uncontrolled high blood sugars that accompany deadly dehydration. Keep

> these supplies in insulated totes that you cool with a " blue ice " pack,

> and always keep a back up supply of blue ice in the freezer at home. For

> occasions when it is not possible to use a refrigerator, keep a supply of

> water-activated Frio to keep insulin, oral medications, and diabetes

> supplies cool without refrigeration when there is no electricity or the

> electricity goes out. (Ask Escom).

>

> With careful planning you can still enjoy summer and have stable blood

> sugar levels.

>

> Beverleigh Piepers RN... the Diabetes Detective.

>

> Beverleigh Piepers is the author of this article. This article can be used

> for reprint on your website provided all the links in the article are

> complete

>

>