Diabetic patients actually suffer from severe hypoglycemia, do you believe it? Many people think it is impossible to see this, and this must be a mistake! After all, in the public's perception, the general impression of diabetes is that it is high blood sugar, and various ways to

diabetic patients will actually suffer from severe hypoglycemia. Do you believe it?

Many people think it is impossible to see this, and this must be a mistake! After all, in the public's perception, the general impression of diabetes is that is high blood sugar , and various ways to control sugar. Not to mention that many people know diabetes often pay special attention to controlling their diet and avoiding high-sugar foods. So, how can these diabetes patients experience severe hypoglycemia?

That’s right, diabetic patients do experience severe hypoglycemia! Let’s talk about this with you today!

1, hypoglycemia in diabetes

Regarding the occurrence of hypoglycemia in patients with diabetes, it is contrary to common sense, but severe hypoglycemia does exist objectively, and it occurs frequently in the diabetes group.

For example, statistics on multiple retrospective studies of diabetes showed that the proportion of severe hypoglycemia (SH) ranged from about 15-73 times per 100 people per year, and about 1.4%-15% of diabetic patients suffered from severe hypoglycemia multiple times within a year [1].

is visible. Severe hypoglycemia is indeed a symptom that a diabetic patient is prone to.

2, why does diabetes cause hypoglycemia?

Diabetes is a common problem of hyperglycemia, but why does it cause severe hypoglycemia?

This starts with our daily understanding of diabetes. The typical characteristic of diabetes is that it has a long-term high blood sugar. Therefore, when dealing with diabetes, we are basically targeting the high blood sugar of diabetes, to prevent a series of complications derived from long-term high blood sugar, such as infection, ketoacidosis, , kidney lesions, fundus lesions, etc.

However, this process of lowering blood sugar may cause hypoglycemia beyond the range, which will cause serious hypoglycemia problems. Of course, specifically, the factors that cause severe hypoglycemia in different people are different. The common factors are as follows:

1, drug factors

drugs are important factors that cause severe hypoglycemia. Typical are hypoglycemia drugs. Using drugs to manage diabetes is the most basic treatment method. However, if the hypoglycemia drugs are unreasonable, especially when they are not adapted to the patient's own health status, they can easily lead to severe hypoglycemia. For example, the use of insulin , sulfonylureas, etc. often lead to severe hypoglycemia [2].

is not just a hypoglycemic drug. Many diabetic patients often have multiple underlying diseases, so they need to use a combination of multiple drugs. These drugs may also have a certain impact on blood sugar metabolism and lead to serious hypoglycemia. For example, studies have found that some psychotropic drugs may block dopamine receptor , thereby stimulating pancreatic β cells to secrete insulin and cause severe hypoglycemia.

2, physiological factors

Blood sugar metabolism is a complex process involving multiple organs, so the situation of different organs will lead to abnormal blood sugar metabolism. For example, a typical renal function is the kidney function, and the kidneys bear certain filtration and degradation effects. If the kidney function is abnormal, it will cause the drug to accumulate in the body and cause the drug concentration to exceed the normal range, causing severe hypoglycemia. As an important organ of drug metabolism and decomposition, the liver may lead to the accumulation of drugs on the one hand, and on the other hand, it may also lead to severe hypoglycemia due to abnormal glycogen reserves. In addition, gastrointestinal function and hormone regulation will affect the absorption, regulation and metabolism of sugar itself, resulting in severe hypoglycemia.

3, diet and exercise factors

In order to deal with diabetes, many people need to adjust their diet, but if the diet is unreasonable, it may lead to severe hypoglycemia. For example, due to self-aging, basal metabolic diseases, and drugs, digestive function decline or even gastrointestinal dysfunction in , , then if you fail to replenish energy in time, you are prone to severe hypoglycemia. Similarly, excessive exercise can also cause the body's sugar supplement to fail to meet the needs and cause severe hypoglycemia.

4, other factors

In addition, studies have found that some combined diseases, such as hypertension , heart disease , etc. may have a certain relationship with hypoglycemia. It can be said that severe hypoglycemia is a dangerous phenomenon caused by the superposition of multiple factors. When severe hypoglycemia occurs, it will pose a threat to people's work, life and even life.

Generally speaking, mild hypoglycemia will show palpitations , sweating, etc. If the patient is engaged in a profession that requires high stability, it may have a certain impact and needs to stop for treatment as soon as possible.

If severe and severe hypoglycemia occurs, the patient may experience epilepsy, coma or even shock . In this case, severe hypoglycemia has affected the basic functions of a person. For example, severe hypoglycemia occurs during driving, which may cause traffic accidents. If there is a concurrent myocardial infarction and heart rate disorder, if treatment is not carried out in time, the patient may die.

In addition, if severe hypoglycemia occurs repeatedly, it may cause long-term damage to the body, such as causing the formation of thrombus, causing abnormal heart function, and causing damage to nervous system , which will have a great impact on patients.

3, how to prevent and first aid severe hypoglycemia?

And because severe hypoglycemia often occurs at night, it also brings considerable difficulty to discovery and treatment. Because of this, it is very necessary for diabetic patients to understand and master certain responses to severe hypoglycemia. So, how to prevent and first aid severe hypoglycemia in daily life?

prevention is of great significance to severe hypoglycemia. Generally speaking, patients with diabetes should pay attention to the following aspects.

1, do a good job in blood sugar monitoring

Blood sugar is an important indicator of the disease progression of diabetic patients. Generally, the onset of severe hypoglycemia does not occur suddenly, but continues to aggravate the last. During this period, blood sugar is an important reference.

Therefore, for diabetic patients, daily blood sugar monitoring is very necessary. Through long-term, stable and orderly blood sugar monitoring, you can detect blood sugar abnormalities as early as possible and respond to them early.

2, reasonable blood sugar management

For diabetic patients, blood sugar control can be said to be deeply understood in the bone marrow. This is indeed a correct truth, but in the process of blood sugar management, you should also pay attention to excessive or insufficient, especially to make corresponding adjustments based on your own situation. Blood sugar is related to personal physiological functions such as the kidneys, liver, etc., as well as daily diet and exercise, so blood sugar must not be controlled blindly.

3, Health Management

Personal health status is also one of the factors that cause severe hypoglycemia. Similarly, the use of drugs for other diseases and the progress of diabetes itself will affect the patient's health status, so health management should be carried out based on these specific risk factors.

In addition, diabetes drugs are also an important factor, and they should be adjusted according to the doctor's guidance. Once severe hypoglycemia occurs, emergency treatment is also necessary.

In general, some sugars should be kept in common, such as sugar, candy, etc. When hypoglycemia occurs, these sugar-containing substances should be supplemented in time, which can delay the progress of the disease. At the same time, do not relax your vigilance, but seek medical treatment in a timely manner. The hospital has a special diagnosis and treatment plan for severe hypoglycemia, which can provide a more complete response strategy.

Overall, severe hypoglycemia is a dangerous situation caused by multiple factors, which may lead to coma, shock or even death in patients. Therefore, more attention should be paid to it in daily life, more observation and management should be paid to avoid serious problems.

1 Akram, Kamran, et al. "Frequency and risk factors of severe hypoglycemia in insulin-treated type 2 diabetes: a literature survey." Journal of Diabetes and its Complications 20.6 (2006): 402-408.

2 Tahrani, Abd A., Anthony H. Barnett, and Clifford J. Bailey. "Pharmacology and therapeutic implications of current drugs "Hypoglycemia in type 1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus." Nature Reviews Endocrinology 12.10 (2016): 566-592.

3 Briscoe, Vanessa J., and Stephen N. Davis. "Hypoglycemia in type 1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus: physics, pathophysiology, and management." Clinical diabetes 24.3 (2006): 115-121.