Hypoglycemia That Is Underestimated, You Need to Know!

People often discuss blood sugar issues, especially expressing concerns about high blood sugar. Diabetes has attracted widespread attention in society due to its increasing prevalence and high rates of disability and mortality. However, many people may not be aware that hypoglycemia is also a disease with extremely high risks. Occasional hypoglycemia can cause even more serious harm to the human body than high blood sugar. Severe hypoglycemia may even cause permanent and irreversible damage to the brain and even lead to brain death. Therefore, rescuing people with hypoglycemia can be described as a race against time.

The following will introduce in detail the harm of hypoglycemia to the human body and corresponding treatment methods, hoping to be helpful to you at critical moments.

How can we determine that hypoglycemia has occurred?

For non-diabetic patients, a blood sugar level lower than 2.8 mmol/L can be identified as hypoglycemia. For diabetic patients, a blood sugar level lower than 3.9 mmol/L can be judged as hypoglycemia.

What are the symptoms of hypoglycemia?

Mild hypoglycemia: Usually, people will feel hungry, and at the same time, they may also experience symptoms such as palpitations, tremors in the hands, dizziness, weakness, cold sweats, pale complexion, and difficulty concentrating.

Moderate hypoglycemia: Besides the above symptoms, some strange behaviors may also be manifested, such as emotional instability, incontinence, being unreasonable, and mental confusion.

Severe hypoglycemia: Coma, convulsions, limb spasms, urinary incontinence, arrhythmia, cerebrovascular accidents and other symptoms may occur, and it may even endanger life.

What situations are likely to cause hypoglycemia?

Hunger, insufficient food intake, and intense exercise can easily trigger hypoglycemia. Generally speaking, people prone to hypoglycemia are mainly diabetic patients, especially those with type 1 diabetes. Meanwhile, type 2 diabetic patients using insulin are also prone to hypoglycemia.

In addition to the possible occurrence of hypoglycemia due to factors such as decreased liver and kidney functions, the following factors also require vigilance:

2 to 4 hours after a meal: Especially after consuming excessive amounts of high-sugar foods, the body may secrete and release excessive insulin in order to cope with the sudden large amount of sugar, thus resulting in a hypoglycemic effect.

Heavy drinking: Especially when drinking a large amount of alcohol on an empty stomach or in a state of hunger, it may trigger hypoglycemia. Because in this case, the liver's glycogen reserve is insufficient, and it is necessary to mobilize the body's fat and protein. However, a large amount of alcohol will inhibit the liver's function of converting fat and protein into glucose, thus triggering a hypoglycemic distress signal.

Nocturnal hypoglycemia: Nocturnal hypoglycemia usually occurs between 12:00 midnight and 2:00 am. Patients are prone to symptoms such as night sweats and nightmares. When waking up in the morning, they may feel that the quality of sleep is poor, often accompanied by headaches and fatigue. Especially for diabetic patients, nocturnal hypoglycemia often starts with nightmares. Therefore, diabetic patients must strengthen blood sugar monitoring, and if necessary, 24-hour ambulatory blood sugar monitoring can be carried.

The elderly population: The elderly, especially elderly diabetic patients, have a relatively weak ability to perceive hypoglycemia. Sometimes, when symptoms such as palpitations and dizziness occur, they are often misdiagnosed as coronary heart disease or hypertension and ignored. If similar hypoglycemic symptoms recur frequently, the body will gradually adapt, and it may no longer send out warnings. In the long run, it may cause irreversible harm to patients and even quickly fall into a coma without any warning signs. Therefore, the elderly population especially needs to pay attention to avoiding the occurrence of hypoglycemia.

Hypoglycemic drugs: The use of hypoglycemic drugs is also a risk factor for the occurrence of hypoglycemia. Insulin and sulfonylurea hypoglycemic drugs are prone to cause hypoglycemia during the use process. Other hypoglycemic drugs such as metformin, pioglitazone, and acarbose generally do not easily cause hypoglycemia when used alone. Therefore, patients using such drugs must be under the guidance of doctors or pharmacists when changing drugs or adjusting doses.

How to rescue oneself in case of hypoglycemia?

Many diabetic patients may choose staple foods such as snacks and steamed buns to relieve symptoms when hypoglycemic symptoms occur. Although this approach is not completely wrong, it is not the most appropriate choice. Because for the treatment of hypoglycemia, time is of the utmost importance. Foods such as sucrose, honey, and fruit juice should be quickly consumed. These foods can be quickly absorbed by the intestine, thereby relieving hypoglycemic symptoms as soon as possible. While starchy foods such as steamed buns belong to polysaccharide foods and need to be metabolized and decomposed into monosaccharides before they can be absorbed and utilized by the human body. Therefore, the speed of correcting hypoglycemia is relatively slow. In addition, for diabetic patients taking acarbose, voglibose, and miglitol, when hypoglycemia occurs, sucrose should not be used, but glucose should be supplemented instead, because these three drugs will slow down the speed at which sucrose is decomposed into glucose and fructose, so that blood sugar cannot rise rapidly.

The first aid methods for diabetic hypoglycemia are as follows: After patients show hypoglycemic symptoms, they should immediately lie down and rest. Orally take 15 - 20 grams of sugar-containing foods (preferably glucose). Monitor blood sugar every 15 minutes. If the blood sugar is still lower than 3.9 mmol/L, sugar-containing foods can be taken again; if it is higher than 3.9 mmol/L, starchy or protein-containing foods such as milk, bananas, or sandwiches can be eaten.

Finally, a reminder: Hypoglycemia caused by long-acting insulin or sulfonylurea drugs is not easy to correct. It is recommended to seek medical treatment in time after self-rescue. It may be necessary to infuse glucose for a long time. After regaining consciousness, monitor blood sugar for at least 24 - 48 hours.

For severe hypoglycemic attacks, timely and correct treatment measures are crucial. Diabetic patients should regularly monitor blood sugar to avoid the occurrence of hypoglycemia. At the same time, avoid intense exercise on an empty stomach or in a state of hunger. If moderate or severe hypoglycemia occurs and self-rescue is ineffective, they should be immediately sent to the hospital for medical treatment.

If hypoglycemia recurs frequently and the cause is unknown, do not handle it by yourself at home. Be sure to go to the hospital to seek help from doctors. For severely hypoglycemic patients with consciousness disorders, immediately dial the 120 emergency rescue hotline and send them to the hospital for treatment.