May 4, 2002
Hypoglycemia
Question from Cohasset, Minnesota, USA:
Our four year old daughter was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes two months ago, and we’ve really been struggling with her numbers. Her doctor said that because she’s only four, any lows under 80 mg/dl [4.4 mmol/L] hurt the brain and can cause brain damage, but we haven’t been able to find any information and are wondering if this is so. She’s had over 100 lows in these two months. Should we be concerned about brain damage? He said up until the age of seven, we need to try to keep her between 100-200 [mg/dl, 5.6-11.1 mmol/L].
Answer:
Severe and recurrent low blood sugars do have the potential to influence growth and development.”Brain damage” is an inflammatory term that I would hesitate to use to describe what low blood sugars can do.
It is important to work to avoid lows under 100 mg/dl [5.5 mmol/L] and aim for blood sugars 100-200 mg/dl [5.5-11.1 mmol/L]. An occasional low blood sugar is unavoidable when you have diabetes, and if you’re working diligently to avoid it, I would not let the occasional low blood sugar bother you.
MSB