This blood sugar conversion helps you know your blood glucose levels in both measurement units mmol/L and mg/dL so you can understand the diabetes terminology. Below the form you can read more on how these levels are determined.
How does the blood sugar conversion work?
This tool is able to transform mmol/L to mg/dL and the other way around in order to give you a sense of what these values mean in the different measurement systems so you can interpret information from around the world. You can choose whichever unit you want to start with and you can do as many calculations as you want.
Measuring blood glucose levels is made in mmol/L which is the molar concentration (milimoles per litre), this can also be found as milimolar (mM). In some places, such as the US, they are measured as mg/dL (milligrams per deciliter), which is the mass concentration.
The difference between these two units is that 1mmol/L equals 18 mg/dL. This means that in order to transform from mmol/L to mg/dL the blood sugar conversion will multiply the value by 18.0182 while in order to convert from mg/dL to mmol/L will multiply by 0.0555.
What is the blood sugar concentration?
This is the same with the blood glucose level and represents the amount of glucose present in the blood. This is the primal source of energy for the body cells and there are metabolic mechanisms to regulate these levels. The hormone insulin is the main regulator for blood sugar and is made available through the pancreas.
Sugar levels in the body are low in the morning and usually rise in the first and second hour after the meals. Everything that is outside the normal range it is considered to be an early indicator of an underlying condition.
High levels are referred to as hyperglycemia while low levels as hypoglycemia. Long term hyperglycemia is associated to diabetes mellitus, heart disease and kidney damage. While hypoglycemia determines symptoms such as lethargy, shaking, muscle weakness, sweating and impaired mental function.
Blood sugar chart
Normal levels are said to vary between 4mmol/L to 6mmol/L. Below these it means hypoglycemia while what is above is hyperglycemia. The table is built with both of the systems so it can be easier to read.
| Range | mmol/L | mg/dL |
| Hypoglycemia | 1.7 | 30 |
| 2.2 | 40 | |
| 2.8 | 50 | |
| 3.3 | 60 | |
| Normal range | 4 | 70 |
| 4.4 | 80 | |
| 5 | 90 | |
| 5.5 | 100 | |
| Hyperglycemia | 6.1 | 110 |
| 6.7 | 120 | |
| 7 | 126 | |
| 8.6 | 155 | |
| 9.7 | 175 | |
| 10.6 | 190 | |
| 13.9 | 250 | |
| 22.2 | 400 | |
| 33.3 | 600 |
References
1) Faqs.org Section: What are mg/dl and mmol/l? How to convert? Advameg, Inc.
2) Somogyi M. (1948) Studies of Arteriovenous Differences in Blood Sugar (PDF) J. Biol. Chem 174 (1): 189–200.
13 Dec, 2014