Hypoglycemia is caused by blood sugar falling to levels that cause symptoms.
What causes hypoglycemia?
Hypoglycemia is caused by blood sugar falling to levels that cause symptoms. Symptoms usually appear when the glucose value is <70mg. Each body, however, responds differently to the reduction of sugar levels, with the result that a person shows symptoms at higher or lower values.
Hypoglycemia also occurs in people who suffer from diabetes and are under treatment.
The causes of hypoglycemia can be:
• exceeding the dose of insulin taken or antidiabetic tablets
• delay in taking a meal
• due to intense physical exercise
There are also causes of hypoglycemia that are not due to diabetes:
• Hypoglycemia during fasting or dieting
• Hypoglycemia due to secretion from various tumors such as insulinoma or hepatoma
• Chronic kidney failure
• Alcohol abuse
How is hypoglycemia caused?
Hypoglycemia is caused by the following two mechanisms:
• From reduced blood glucose
• From the increased removal of glucose from the blood due to its increased consumption in the body.
Reduced supply of glucose to the body is observed in chronic malnutrition, poor absorption of glucose from the intestine, liver diseases (such as chronic hepatitis or cirrhosis of the liver), as well as in conditions that cause reduced glucose synthesis. Hypoglycemia is often observed during vigorous physical exercise or heavy manual work.
Hyperinsulinism is most commonly due to excessive insulin administration in diabetic individuals and is the most common cause of hypoglycemia. However, hyperinsulinism can also be due to increased insulin production, either from tumors of the pancreas, or from tumors of various other organs that produce substances that mimic the action of insulin, such as insulinoma.
Symptoms of hypoglycemia
Glucose is the main and only source of energy for nerve cells and thus a large part of its symptoms are due to the dysfunction of the nervous system.
These symptoms can be distinguished into acute, subacute and chronic.
Acute symptoms include:
• Sweating
• Feeling hungry
• Anxiety
• Numbness of the fingers
• Visual disturbances (which usually occur in people who take too much insulin).
The diabetic patient should be able to easily distinguish the symptoms of hypoglycemia in order to treat them in time.
Subacute symptoms are less characteristic. Usually, the diabetic has drowsiness and reduced ability for automatic reactions, however, sometimes he may also have manifestations of bad behavior that the person does not understand. Subacute symptoms include bad psychology, as well as the inability to handle individual affairs.
Chronic symptoms usually occur in people with insulin-secreting tumors. These are sometimes insidious, they exist chronically without being very intense and often the diagnosis is difficult and perhaps delayed.
In the chronic symptoms of hypoglycemia we observe slow progressive mental decline, which often resembles elements of psychopathy which may end up in cerebral dementia.
Treatment of hypoglycemia
The treatment of hypoglycemia is related to the cause that causes it, so its treatment is similar.
But it is usually treated with the administration of glucose, either in the form of intravenous administration or in the mildest cases with the consumption of sugar or fruit.
Prevention
The best way to prevent hypoglycemia is to check sugar levels frequently, but also to properly prepare for treatment.
Frequent blood sugar monitoring is essential, especially in people who have lost a lot of weight or are on an intensive insulin therapy program and have strict control goals or exercise very vigorously and frequently.
The right diet and exercise program is a catalytic factor in the prevention and regulation of sugar.
The adjustment of the appropriate diet and the dose of insulin or tablets, especially on days when the program includes intense physical exercise, while the consultation of the patient with his doctor is important.
Written by:
Ibrahim Taraune, Pathologist-Diabetologist
Deputy Director of Diabetes Clinic HYGEIA
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