
October 3, 2000
Daily Care
Question from Floral Park, New York, USA:
What would be some of the causes for a child with reasonably good blood sugars (150 mg/dl [8.3 mmol/L]) to be spilling glucose, but not ketones, in fresh urine samples? She is a type�1 diagnosed about six months ago, in good health, Hemoglobin A1c down to 7.5%, and otherwise well.
Answer:
Some healthy children spill glucose into the urine at 150 mg/dl [8.3 mmol/L]. That is why urine glucose testing is so inaccurate to use to manage diabetes. On the other hand, the most likely reason for the glucose in the urine is that her blood sugar was higher immediately after eating. The urine in the bladder reflects all the blood sugars from the last time she urinated until the time of testing. If the blood sugar went up higher for a short time, glucose will spill into the urine and be present even if her blood sugar is low when she tests.
TGL