November 30, 2003
Diagnosis and Symptoms, Hypoglycemia
Question from Brooklyn, New York, USA:
My three-year-old just recently had blood work at my request. High sugar diabetes runs in my family and my daughter has been very tired lately and is hungry all the time. While she seems hungry she is also a very picky eater and will only eat if forced to. She is pale as well. Her sugar blood results indicated 73 mg/dl [4 mmol/l] but she was not fasting. The doctors told me she didn’t need to fast and so I went to get breakfast for her and myself since she was very hungry. The bottom line is she ate pancakes, bacon, and eggs. And 45 minutes later her blood work was done and it indicated 73. Could this be a indication of hypoglycemia?
Answer:
73 is a normal blood sugar and typically require no further work-up. A normal blood sugar in someone who doesn’t have diabetes is 65-110.
MSB
[Editor’s comment: For more information, see Classification and Diagnosis of Diabetes.
JSH]
