Glycosuria- a condition passing too much glucose in your urine. How does it harm you? – By Dr Harold Gunatillake
That is what we are going to discuss today. Glycosuria happens when you have glucose or other sugars like lactose, fructose, or galactose, in your urine. This is sometimes also called glucosuria.
A trace of glucose in your urine is normal. Normal glucose range in urine:
0 to 0.8 mmol/l (0 to 15 mg/dL)
If a random urine sample shows more than 0.25mg/ml of glucose, this is considered glycosuria and can be caused by too high blood glucose levels, a problem with your kidney filters, or both.
Glucose must be maintained in your bloodstream within a range giving a steady balance. When you are fasting your blood sugar level drops to about 90m.mol/l, and
on average daily blood sugar level fluctuates with food but maintains at about 7-8 mmol/L
Euglycemia, or blood sugar within the normal range, is naturally ideal for the body’s functions. A delicate balance between hormones of the pancreas, intestines, brain, and even adrenals
are required to maintain normal BG levels.
Too much blood glucose can damage your organs and nerves, whilst your body does need enough sugar for energy.
Normally, the blood sugar is absorbed by the liver and 97% of the filtered glucose is reabsorbed in your kidneys through the proximal convoluted tubules.
To be more precise, the kidneys reabsorb
filtered glucose through the sodium‐glucose cotransporters sodium‐glucose
cotransporter
(SGLT) 1 and SGLT2, which are localized on the brush border membrane of the early proximal tubule with immune detection of their expression in the tabularized Bowman capsule.
The liver helps maintain blood glucose levels in response to the pancreatic hormones insulin and glucagon. After a meal, levels of blood glucose rise, and glucose enters the liver.
This excess glucose is dealt with by glycogenesis in which the liver converts glucose into glycogen for storage.
So, both kidneys and the liver maintain your blood sugar level within the normal range, under normal situations.
When you exercise, blood sugar in addition is taken by the muscles for energy and that too helps to reduce and and maintain your blood sugar level. So, diabetics must exercise at least walking many hours a day to control blood sugar levels, in addition to taking antidiabetic medication.
Why should some people pass excess glucose in the urine?
There are three causes for this to happen:
- Conditions with problems using or making the hormone insulin, as in
- Conditions with the kidney where the tubules are damaged, or other kidney
- Eating more sugars than the body can process at
- Those who are prescribed Jardiance and other SGLT2 inhibitors can increase the glucose level in your urine and cause positive urine glucose tests. Let’s talk about Renal Glycosuria
Renal glycosuria is a rare inherited condition where your body eliminates sugar in your urine even though your blood levels are normal. In this condition, you don’t have too much glucose but your body gets rid of it anyway.
It is caused by gene changes that lead to defects in your kidney tubules where glucose is absorbed. Renal glycosuria usually doesn’t have any symptoms and doesn’t need treatment.
Let’s talk about Fanconi Syndrome and glycosuria
Fanconi syndrome is a general term for a defect in your kidneys that causes problems absorbing glucose. This can be caused by:
Drugs, Heavy metal exposure, Not enough vitamin D, and Kidney transplant, It can also be caused by some genetic conditions, including Wilson disease, Dent disease, Lowe syndrome
Now let’s talk about Alimentary Glycosuria
This results from eating too many carbs at a meal. Blood glucose levels become abnormally high after eating, the glucose is passed into your urine, and levels take longer to normalize. This is a temporary condition.
Now what are the symptoms of glycosuria?
If you are tired, passing a lot of urine, feeling thirsty, losing weight, and feeling sick, get your urine glucose level checked with your doctor.
Treatment for glycosuria. This depends on the cause. If glycosuria is due to diabetes lifestyle changes and antidiabetic medication will control the situation.
Hope you value testing for glucose in your urine if you feel tired and with the above symptoms mentioned. If you are a diabetic tight control of blood sugar with medication, lifestyle changes, and exercise will curtail the excretion of glucose in your urine.
Stay safe and goodbye for now.
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