
December 26, 2000
Behavior, Hypoglycemia
Question from Iowa, USA:
I am 16 and my 21 year old brother has hypoglycaemia and doesn’t follow his diet. This worries me. Can you give me some information that might scare him into following his diet a little better? He has already had three attacks and almost died.
Answer:
How frightening it must have been to see your brother suffer from such severe low blood sugars! I think the most important thing you can do to help your brother is to go with him to his next physician appointment. While there, you can express your concerns about your brother’s health to the physician. Perhaps your brother does not have all of the information he needs to make safe choices. Or, perhaps he feels overwhelmed by the burden of caring for his health. Either way, having your support and talking to his health care team will help him through. Finally, if your brother is emotionally overwhelmed by this burden, please consider helping him make an appointment with a mental health professional.
JWB