Non-Diabetic
Hypoglycemia: Hypoglycemia
means low blood sugar. It is more or less
the opposite of diabetes. Instead
of the blood sugar being high, it is lower
than normal.
In some rare cases, the islet cells
of the pancreas are producing too much insulin.
This may be due to a tumor or perhaps
to some disturbed function of the liver,
pituitary, thyroid or adrenal glands.
It may sometime occur in people who
do not take enough protein in their diet.
Also vulnerable to hypoglycemia are people
who live under constant state of nervous
tension and have developed a melancholic
attitude towards life.
The
Typical Symptoms: sweating,
trembling, feeling of weakness, headache,
disturbances of vision, numbness, dizziness
and palpitation of the heart. Most patients
feel hungry and may tend to eat too frequently
to combat hypoglycemia and emotional nervousness.
These attacks usually come on when
the patient has gone several hours without
food.
What
Should They Do: People
who suffer episodes of hypoglycemia, must:
¨
Consult
the health care provider to diagnose the
real cause of hypoglycemia.
¨
Take
high protein diet avoiding excessive intake
of sweets, carbohydrates and sugars.
¨
Learn
to live without tensions.
Diabetic
Hypoglycemia: It
is the commonest acute complication associated
with diabetes. The majority of insulin-treated
diabetic patients regularly experience mild
Hypoglycemia, (at least one episode a month).
New, intensified insulin regimens aimed
at near-normoglycemia may increase the frequency
of hypoglycemia.
Its
Symptoms:
In
addition to the classical symptoms listed
above, some patients may experience premonitory
signs of emerging hypoglycemia. They include:
|
Headache
|
Fatigue
|
|
Blurred Vision
|
Sweating
|
Dizziness
|
Dealing
With Mild Hypoglycemia: In
most cases, a mild attack of hypoglycemia
can be cured by taking a sugar cube. However,
the patient should take advise of his health
care provider in preparing a list of rapidly
absorbable carbohydrates containing 15-30
g of glucose. In the case of a severe attack
or a drug-induced hypoglycemia, the advise
of the health care provider must be taken
as soon as possible.
