August 22, 2001
Hypoglycemia
Question from Bracknell, Berkshire, United Kingdom:
My friend’s nine year old daughter has had type�1 diabetes since she was six. When she’s had a convulsion, the paramedics have checked her blood sugar level, and it has been 6.7 and 5.9 mmol/L [121 and106 mg/dl] another time. These levels are not low, and she has been lower (1.4 mmol/L [25 mg/dl] and not convulsed. My consultant has mentioned something about glucose around the brain. Can you enlighten my friend and her daughter on this?
Answer:
Usually, by the time a patient is recovering from a profound hypoglycaemic attack, the blood sugar is found to be on the way up. This is because of the body’s response to hypo — producing its own glucagon, epinephrine (adrenalin), etc. Only if there is any doubt about the cause of the fit (e.g., knowledge of normal blood glucose just before fit, no prodromal symptoms, etc.) is there normally any need to look for another cause.
KJR
