December 3, 2000
Hypoglycemia
Question from Jensen Beach, Florida, USA:
My five year old daughter was just diagnosed with diabetes. Her blood sugars are still fluctuating between low, normal and high. When her blood sugars are lower than 70 mg/dl [3.9 mmol/L], and especially when they fall below 40 mg/dl [2.2 mmol/L] or 50 mg/dl [2.8 mmol/L], should I give her something high in sugar? Will this add to diabetes complications later in her life? Or should I just stick with the healthy snack to boost her levels?
Answer:
It is important to treat low blood sugars with carbohydrates (sugars) such as glucose tablets and other forms of rapid acting sugars. Please visit our resource on low blood sugars, Hypoglycemia and Guidelines for Treating Lows by Age.
Treating these lows will not add to her complications later in life. However, you should aggressively try identify what may be causing low blood sugars and work to avoid them as much as possible.
MSB
