December 15, 2000
Hypoglycemia, Other Social Issues
Question from Leadwood, Missouri, USA:
My friend’s three year old has diabetes. He is in a legal battle over custody because he feels his child is in danger The problem is that the other care giver has and is consistently dropping the child’s sugar well below 70 mg/dl [3.9 mmol/L], most of the times in the 40s [mg/dl, 2.2 mmol/L]. He has hot-lined the mother with child services, but they say without proof that the low blood sugars are harming the child, they can do nothing. As I understand it, much like oxygen, the brain also needs sugar to function. Although I believe that the low blood sugars may not show harm or damage at this time, they may affect the child later in life. Please relay any information that you may know of supporting this theory. Do they have to kill the child before any one will do something?
Answer:
It is beyond the purview of Children With Diabetes to be involved in a legal issue surrounding the dangers of hypoglycemia. However, I would be happy to assist you in educating yourself about hypoglycemia. A good resource to learn more about this can be found on this site in the Diabetes Basics, Hypoglycemia area.
Hypoglycemia should be avoided and multiple episodes of severe hypoglycemia can indeed be detrimental to one’s health. There are numerous strategies that a diabetes team can assist with in avoiding hypoglycemia.
MSB
