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diabetes FAQ: general (part 1 of 5)
Section - How about discussing hypoglycemia?

( Part1 - Part2 - Part3 - Part4 - Part5 - Single Page )
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See reader questions & answers on this topic! - Help others by sharing your knowledge
Sure ...

To clarify: the term "hypoglycemia" is used to refer to two distinct
conditions. The word just means "low blood glucose". This can occur as
an insulin reaction, the result of too much injected insulin (taken to
treat diabetes) compared to food intake and exercise. But low blood
glucose can also be a chronic condition resulting from abnormalities of
insulin secretion, and this chronic condition is also called
hypoglycemia.

Chronic hypoglycemia may be caused by beta cells which overreact to an
increase in blood glucose (bg) by releasing too much insulin, which
then causes a too-rapid drop in bG. Such a condition, called reactive
hypoglycemia, is usually handled by dietary adjustments, in particular
avoiding refined sugars and large meals which stimulate the
overreaction. This often requires an effort in calculating the diet and
monitoring bG levels that is equal to what anyone with diabetes needs.

Tumors (insulinomas) can cause a steady overproduction of insulin.
These generally require surgical removal.

There are other causes as well. Mayer Davidson discusses some in his
book _Diabetes Mellitus: Diagnosis and Treatment_. But you'll have to
find the Second Edition, because he dropped this chapter from the Third
Edition. I don't believe anyone claims to understand all the causes of
hypoglycemia. The US NIDDK has a booklet online which discusses some of
the less common causes:

   http://www.niddk.nih.gov/health/diabetes/pubs/hypo/hypo.htm

So chronic hypoglycemia is closely related to diabetes mellitus in
being a disorder of insulin production and use, and requires many of
the same techniques for its treatment. The two are a natural for
discussion in the same newsgroup. Which is good, since there really
isn't anywhere else in Usenet at present to discuss chronic
hypoglycemia. Welcome.

A hypoglycemia mailing list, HYPO-L, is available and sees moderate
traffic. See the section on mailing lists in part 4 of this FAQ for
subscription information.

Lars Idema maintains a hypoglycemia FAQ and information on a variety of
hypoglycemia resources on the Internet. See his web page at

   http://hypoglykemie.nl

User Contributions:

1
Raqiba Shihab
Many thanks. My husband has Type 2 diabetes and we were a bit concerned about his blood sugar/glucose levels because he was experiencing symptoms of hyperglyceamia. We used a glucometer which displays the reading mg/dl so in my need to know what the difference
between and mg/dl and mmol/l is, i came across your article and was so pleased to aquire a lot more info regarding blood glucose, how to read and convert it.
2
Bhavani
It was really informative and useful for people who don't know conversion. Thanks to you

Comment about this article, ask questions, or add new information about this topic:




Top Document: diabetes FAQ: general (part 1 of 5)
Previous Document: Is it OK to discuss diabetes insipidus here? What is it?
Next Document: Helping with the diagnosis (DM or hypoglycemia) and waiting

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Last Update March 27 2014 @ 02:11 PM