hypoglycemia

The simplest treatment for hypoglycemia is to eat every four hours like clockwork. Not just a rice cake or something, either, but a complete (if small) meal, with foods from two or more food groups. Carry yogurt and crackers with you, or something. It will make your life easier, and the lives of everyone around you (since hypoglycemia probably makes you headachey or cranky or fatigued).

In some insulin dependent diabetics, even something like delaying a meal can make them hypoglycaemic. Take note of this if you ever invite a diabetic over for a meal or take them out for dinner. If they start sounding confused, woozy or worse, think about getting some kind of food into them quickly.

Don't forget that the diabetic may well have taken his/her dose of insulin before coming over and may end up too confused to remember to tell you to provide the food on time.

Hypoglycemia is a condition where blood sugar drops below normal levels (strictly defined as a blood glucose level below 70 mg/dL). People with this condition often have blood sugar levels that fluctuate from above normal to below normal.

Some of the symptoms of hypoglycemia:

Fatigue
Irritability
Headaches
Weakness
Nervousness
Depression
Hunger
Confusion

The most noticable of these is fatigue. Someone who is hypoglycemic can go from being alert to completely lethargic very quickly if they do not eat properly.

Some of the causes of hypoglycemia:

Diabetes - Many diabetics are also hypoglycemic.
Diabetic mother - although the child might not be diabetic, it may still be hypoglycemic.
A tumor on the pancreas.
A bad metabolic system.
There have also been others with unknown causes, so all causes are not known.

Treatment:
In some cases, hypoglycemia is treated with glucagon, but for the most part, it is treated with a very strict diet. A snack should be available at all times, to help if the person becomes hypoglycemic. Someone who is hypoglycemic needs to eat frequently, eating a couple small meals in place of one large meal.

---

My best friend is hypoglycemic, so I have researched this from time to time, and have witnessed some of the symptoms firsthand. Further research can be done on the web. A good place to start is http://home.earthlink.net/~dougwheel/hypo/index.html