Can’t Fall Asleep? - Insomnia Can be Caused by High Blood Glucose Levels

If you are having trouble falling asleep and wonder what causes insomnia this article might provide the answers you seek

 

If you have trouble falling asleep, or just can't fall asleep at all without a dose of sleeping pills at night, and your partner calls you an insomniac, then you should listen to them because we all need sleep to recover from daily stresses.  Insomnia is often caused by low blood sugar (Hypogylcemia) levels in healthy individuals, but this is usually preventable.  Indeed there is a long list of possible of causes of insomnia, such as caffeine, nicotine, alcohol, and intake of prescription medicines, but if you have eliminated these obvious causes then it's time to visit your GP to test for high blood pressure and high blood glucose levels (hyperglycemia) to see if you are prediabetic or actually have diabetes.

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Both high blood pressure and high blood glucose can cause insomnia and often occur together, and both are major risk factors for type 2 diabetes.

How are Blood Pressure and High Blood Glucose Levels Related?

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Your body constantly tries to regulate blood glucose levels within a specific normal range between 4.0 mmol/L and 5.9 mmol/L before meals and under 7.8 mmol/L after meals. In excess of this range, the body creates more insulin to trigger blood glucose conversion into glycogen, a system of long term energy storage in the liver. Conversely, if your blood glucose levels are too low, your body will produce adrenaline which is a trigger for the release of the hormone glucagon which mediates the release your glucose from glycogen stores in the liver. It also causes vasoconstriction and increases your heart rate; and so your blood glucose levels can affect blood pressure.

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Blood pressure is regulated maintaining a range between 90/60mmHg and 120/80mmHg, principally through two main hormones released in the blood. Adrenaline speeds things up, causing vasoconstriction and an increased heart rate, and its counterbalance, nitric oxide, causes vasodilation and increases blood filtering to reduce blood volume. The consequence is, of course, that your bladder will fill, and you will need to urinate. Read more..