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Hypoglycemia: the causes and symptoms
While
diabetes is the major cause of hypoglycemia, there are other situations in
which a person may develop this disorder.
Those individuals who consume large amounts of alcohol and eat very little are prone to experiencing hypoglycemia. Alcohol is
known
to block the process of glucose production which depletes your body's stores
of glycogen.
Insulin
and other medications used to control diabetes often cause hypoglycemia.
If you accidentally take someone else's' oral diabetes medication,
you may experience this.
Consuming
too much alcohol can cause serious health problems, so if you�re one of
those who drink too much, please consider signing up for alcohol
detoxification programs before any real
harm can be done.
Additionally,
drugs used to treat people with kidney failure my prompt this condition of
low blood sugar. Quinine, most
commonly used to treat malaria and leg cramps may also have this effect on
some people.
There
are several illnesses which may cause your body to experience hypoglycemia.
Severe diseases of the liver, for example, drug-induced hepatitis, is one of
them, as is anorexia nervosa, the condition where individuals basically
starve themselves because they constantly view themselves as overweight.
Kidney failure is another serious health problem which may produce
the symptoms of hypoglycemia.
If
your body produces an excess of blood insulin, you may experience
hypoglycemia. This is a rare
health condition created by the beta cells of your pancreas, which releases
the insulin. This could occur
if you had a beta cell tumor, known as insulinoma.
Other
cancers that may affect your glucose level include non-beta-cell tumors,
which may not necessarily cause an overproduction of insulin.
Instead, they produce an excessive use of glucose by the tumor
itself. Or it may result in a
glut of insulin-like substances.
Elevated levels of these will produce hypoglycemia as well.
How
do you know if you're experiencing the symptoms of hypoglycemia? You'll know
it; first, because of the effects it produces on your brain.
If you're feeling confused, or if you are acting abnormally, you may
consider hypoglycemia as the culprit. These
are two of the signs. The
inability to complete routine tasks is another indication of the disorder.
Those with hypoglycemia also complain of disturbances in their vision, which
may manifest as blurred vision or seeing double.
Two
uncommon complaints of hypoglycemia are seizures and loss of consciousness.
Physically,
hypoglycemia can produce such symptoms as heart palpitations, hunger,
tremors, sweating and a generalized, unexplained anxiety.
You'll
notice that most of these symptoms aren't exclusively linked to
hypoglycemia. Many of them are
associated with other diseases as well.
The only way to know for sure if hypoglycemia is the cause of your
problems is through a blood sugar level test.
If
your health care practitioner suspects that your symptoms may be due to
hypoglycemia, she'll want to perform a Whipple's triad.
This test is named after the American surgeon, Allen Whipple, who
first developed it.
Your
health care practitioner will ask you to fast overnight, after which your
system should be exhibiting the hypoglycemic symptoms. You may either fast
at home, or be admitted into the hospital overnight for this. If your
symptoms occur right after you eat, she'll want to test you following a
meal.
During
the time you're displaying the symptoms, she'll draw a sample of blood for
laboratory analysis. The third
part of the triad, then, is the diagnostic phase. She'll monitor you to see
if the symptoms disappear once the blood glucose levels go back to normal.
Note: Some statements in this article may not be
approved by the FDA. This article is for informational purposes only and
should not be taken as professional medical advice.
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