How Dehydration Makes It Harder to Control Blood Sugar
Dehydration can create a cycle that makes diabetes more difficult to manage.
When there is less water in your body, there’s less liquid in your bloodstream. This can cause glucose to concentrate more in your blood, leading to high blood sugar levels.
Your body may react by releasing hormones that also raise blood sugar. These include arginine vasopressin, which tells your liver to release glucose and causes the kidneys to retain more water, as well as the stress hormones cortisol and epinephrine, which increase the amount of glucose that your body produces, Dr. Rizza says. Arginine vasopressin also can increase insulin resistance, which may push blood sugar higher.
When this causes consistently high blood sugar, you will often need to go to the bathroom more because your kidneys will start to spill excess blood sugar into your urine, pulling excess water with it. This keeps the dehydration cycle going and makes blood sugar that much harder to control.
Left untreated, high blood sugar or hyperglycemia can cause symptoms that include:
- Headaches
- Blurred vision
- Trouble healing
- Weight loss
- Fatigue
- Skin infections
It also can lead to a dangerous condition called diabetic ketoacidosis, in which your blood becomes acidic, as well as hyperosmolar hyperglycemic syndrome, in which high blood sugar leads to extreme dehydration. If you have symptoms of these diabetic emergencies, such as fruity-smelling breath or loss of consciousness, seek immediate medical attention.
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