sgc
Member
- Messages
- 6
- Type of diabetes
- Type 1
- Treatment type
- Insulin
I am not being pedantic. HYPO means too little. HYPER means too much. With a Hypo the blood has too little sugar. The brain needs more sugar than any other organ to function properly. Deprive it of sugar and it closes down. You feel faint to begin with and perhaps behave strangely - early warning signs of a Hypo. Unconsciousness may follow. It is important not to confuse this state with a diabetic coma which is the result of HYPERglycaemia. You treat a Hypo with sugar. You wouldnt want to give sugar to any one who already has too much in their blood stream. Often people with low blood sugar are taken to hos[ital. This is only my opinion but hospitalisation is not always necessary with even a bad Hypo. if for example the person can be given something sweet they will recover. If a person is unable to take food or drink then an injection of Glucagon will usually bring the person back because it causes the liver to release its store of Glycogen. After such an injection you must eat to replenish the liver. Indeed as you may have found if a person with a Hypo is left long enough there is often spontaneous recovery as the liver kicks in by itself to release glycogen. All of this applies only when you have too little glucose in your blood. My GP used to insist that I had a Glucagon kit in the fridge all the time. She said she would be very annoyed if she was called out to me because of a bad Hypo and there was no Glucagon to give me. I think all persons who are insulin dependent should know how Hypos occur and what to do . As important - others should know as well.