Natural Cures

What You Need To Know About Hypoglycemia
 by: Matt Hamburg

If someone has been diagnosed with diabetes type 2 and is on no medications, then the likelihood of hypoglycaemia is low.

But if you’re a diabetic on treatment, then read this article to find out the important facts about hypoglycaemia.

What is the effect of hypoglycaemia?

The symptoms of low blood sugar are divided into two groups.

1. Symptoms caused by the release of epinephrine (adrenaline) by the body, in response to the low sugar level.

The symptoms as a result of this are sweating, trembling, palpitations, nervousness, hunger and craving for food.

2. Symptoms related to the brain not getting enough of its fuel: glucose. The symptoms caused by this are difficulty thinking, headache, change in behaviour, drowsiness, loss of consciousness, seizures and even coma.

What causes low blood sugar levels?

The most common situation in which low glucose levels occur is in diabetics, especially type 1 diabetics. It is due to situations where there’s too much insulin given in relation to the situation at hand.

For example, if insulin is given but the meal is skipped or delayed too long, or if the dose of insulin is too large. It can also occur during excessive exercise

For type 2 diabetics, hypoglycaemia can occur when too much oral diabetic medications are taken.

What is the treatment for hypoglycaemia?

If someone has suspected hypoglycaemia and is awake and alert, that person should raise their blood sugar by drinking a sweet drink that contains sugar, not artificial sweetener as this will not work.

As well, he or she should eat a longer lasting carbohydrate such as bread or pasta as well, to maintain the blood sugar level for a longer period of time.

If there’s any doubt that the person is improving rapidly, or if you’re not sure of why the episode occurred, you should seek medical help immediately.

If someone is becoming drowsy and losing consciousness, then basic first aid applies and you should call the ambulance.

Always seek the advice of your doctor to figure out why the episode happened, and to see if it can be prevented in future, and medic alert bracelets should be considered also.

It is also a good idea to avoid repeated episodes of hypoglycaemia as this can desensitise the person to the symptoms and not cause any of the symptoms produced by the adrenaline release and therefore there may be no warning before an episode of low glucose levels.

In conclusion, know the causes and treatments for hypoglycaemia and ensure that your diabetes and glucose levels are well controlled, including monitoring with your blood glucose meter or monitor, to avoid these episodes from occurring.

So now that you know, make sure that others who live with someone with diabetes also knows.

Hypoglycemia- Know diabetes to control it-
 by: Nilutpal Gogoi

Hypoglycemia is a common problem of the diabetics. The most common sign of hypoglycemia is scarce blood sugar in the body. Actually, hypoglycemia causes the blood sugar to pass out via urine. This is notwithstanding the fact that different persons suffering from this dysfunction may have different types of symptoms. Mentionably, hypoglycemia retraces its steps the moment the blood sugar level turns normal.

Sugar is a good slave but a very taxing master. Sugar is one of the main sources of energy or fuel for the body. Now, our body extracts sugar from the meals we have. Sugar can be carbohydrates which is a complex form of this stimulating source or just plain sugar. It is rather interesting to note that our body always keeps a buffer stock of sugar in the liver. This vital storehouse of sugar is called glycogen. This storage of sugar provides ready backup of sugar during exigencies when the body badly needs to look for sugar reinforcements. Mention may be made of some really trying times as too much of physical labor or during long periods of fasting. Further, the body releases the requisite additional quota of sugar via a complex biochemical procedure. This method is known as gluco-neo-genesis. Its simplest meaning is to produce new sugar. What is more, the process changes the glycogen into sugar.

So we see how important sugar is for our body. Hypoglycemia happens whenever the body fails to regulate or supply such emergency sugar reinforcements. These problems appear due to malfunctioning of our pancreas. During such times, the natural capacity of the body to produce insulin gets affected. Our body’s blood sugar level is automatically kept under control by insulin. This hormone secreted by the pancreas carries out the job by lowering the blood sugar level the moment it crosses the danger stage. In a normal human being, the pancreas is the sentinel ever on vigil against the attacks of excessive blood sugar. The method is akin to the radiator fan in your car which starts automatically whenever the engine gets heated up beyond the requisite level.

Hypoglycemia is intimately connected with the typical metabolic ailment known as Diabetes mellitus. The ailment, diabetes, can definitely be kept under control but cannot be cured by the modern-day medications. It is a medical state that is chronic. In simple words, diabetes or hypoglycemia remains a person’s lifetime mate.

The diabetics usually posses high levels of sugar in their blood stream. Incidentally in the good olden days, diabetes was initially identified with ‘sweet urine’ and too much loss of muscles. Such sweet urine is the result of hypoglycemia when the body produces glucose more than its requirement. What is more, the excess glucose gets circulated in the blood. Only when the pancreas is functioning normally can its insulin hormone control the high level of blood sugar.

Patients suffering from diabetics (Types 1 and 2) complain of hypoglycemia. A person suffering from hypoglycemia generally encounters problems in controlling the blood sugar level. This again results because that person’s pancreas failed to either produce the sufficient quantity of insulin or totally failed to produce any insulin. The consequence is hyperglycemia.

There are many causes of hypoglycemia. Diabetics undergoing long periods of fasting can have hypoglycemia. This happens because their levels of insulin circulate fast. And, the fasting phase suddenly brings down this high circulating level. Moreover, certain drugs can also trigger off hypoglycemia. Even those persons who have inbuilt resistance to insulin may complain of hypoglycemia. Hypoglycemia can be caused also by certain tumors which produce insulin. Such tumors are called insulinomas.

Suffering From Hypoglycemia?
 by: Shannon Lueck

WHAT IS HYPOGLYCEMIA?

Hypoglycemia is an abnormally low level of glucose (sugar) in the blood. This can be caused by a sudden rise in glucose in the blood due to sweets and other sweeteners. This then leads to a sudden drop once the sweets or sweeteners are no longer in the blood system. Too much insulin released into the blood system can also cause it. Diabetes on the other hand is just the opposite and is an abnormally high level of glucose (sugar) in the blood.

Learn more about hypoglycemia at:

Hypoglycemia Website

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN EXACTLY?

When someone is suffering from a hypoglycemic attack, the glucose level in the body is too low to effectively fuel the body’s blood cells. Since all the cells of the body, especially the brain cells, use glucose for fuel, a blood glucose level that is too low starves the cells of needed fuel, causing both physical and emotional symptoms.

The normal range of blood sugar is approximately 60 to 120 mg/dl (milligrams of glucose per deciliter of blood). When the level is below 45 mg/dl, a serious condition is suspected.

Hypoglycemia may be a condition by itself, or may be a complication of diabetes or other disorders. It is most often seen as a complication of diabetes (due to the fact that many doctors don’t recognize hypoglycemia without diabetes as true illness), which is sometimes referred to as insulin reaction.

SYMPTOMS OF HYPOGLYCEMIA

The following are the most common symptoms of hypoglycemia. However, each individual may experience symptoms differently. In most cases, the symptoms will go away once you eat (especially if you eat sweets). Eating sweets however is not the best way to deal with hypoglycemia.

THESE SYMPTOMS INCLUDE (but are not limited to): · Headaches · Dizziness · Uncontrollable cravings · Inner trembling · Body feels weak · Fatigue · Sudden moodiness or behavior changes, such as crying for no apparent reason · A craving for sweets · Cold hands and feet · Forgetfulness · Blurred vision · Irritability · Shakiness · Sudden hunger · Crying spells · Insomnia · Mental Confusion · Nervousness · Faintness · Depression · Heart Palpitations · Family history of low blood sugar or diabetes · Exhaustion · Low libido (sex drive) · Inability to concentrate · Waking up tired and exhausted · Indecisiveness · PMS or premenstrual syndrome

AM I HYPOGLYCEMIC?

How do you know if you are hypoglycemic or not? Is there anyway to test to see if you are?

What amazes me is that the answer is no. There is no standard way to test for hypoglycemia (although a small amount of doctors use a glucose test).

According to recent research, it is estimated that there are close to 100 million people in the United Sates alone that are suffering from hypoglycemia and many of them don’t know it. With that many possible cases, wouldn’t you think that they’d come up with a way to test for the disease?

If you are suffering from any or many of the symptoms listed above, yes, you COULD be hypoglycemic.

You should consult your doctor to rule out any other possible diseases, but don’t allow the doctor to take over. You must be proactive in your approach and go with your gut feeling if the doctors tell you that you’re fine.