Articles on Medical Matters:

What To Do If You Have Hypoglycemia?

Hypoglycemia is a condition involving a low blood sugar level. It usually affects adults and children over 10 years of age. Symptoms include feeling tired, fatigued, anxious, hungry, light-headed, sometimes with excessive perspiration and/or dizziness.

Most cases of hypoglycemia happen with diabetics. A reaction might not be serious and eating carbohydrate rich food or drinking sugar can usually take care of it. However, these potential symptoms should not be ignored, because if it is ignored, it may cause a person to lose consciousness.

Hypoglycemia also affects people who are not diabetic. It can occur when someone is fasting or has gone without food for a while, and may even be associated or confused with another illness or possibly certain medications. And some hypoglycemia happens within about 4 hours of eating a meal and may actually be caused from processed foods or refined sugars.

What to do to keep from getting hypoglycemia. Ironically, avoiding sugar seems to help the most. Oftentimes, this is easier said than actually done. Just stop eating any simple sugars. Try it and you may find a significant change in your energy levels. Also try eating small meals frequently, with 4-5 small meals throughout the day and be sure to have some fiber also. Regular exercise can help, with your workouts being 3-4 times a week for around 45 minutes at a time.

If you suffer from hypoglycemia, there are some precautions that you should think about doing. You could wear a bracelet with the condition on it in case of emergencies, and your local pharmacy should have them for sale. Notify your friends and co-workers about your symptoms so they can watch out for you and remind you to eat when you appear to become irritable or fatigued. Keep snacks on hand and remember to eat regularly to keep your blood sugar levels consistent. Be sure to limit alcohol consumption. And always check your glucose levels before using heavy machinery, driving or doing anything strenuous.

Copyright 2005.

Jessica Deets
24 Jan 2007

Jessica Deets writes about scrapbooks and you can find more news and information about scrapbooking at the website Scrapbook With Me .

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Early Symptoms of Diabetes

Although there are three different kinds of diabetes, the first set of symptoms to be experienced are typically those of hyperglycaemia, or an excess in blood sugar (glucose), and this is the first indicator something isn't quite right.

The symptoms of hyperglycaemia may include blurred vision, fatigue, increased thirst and appetite and increased urination.

In a Type 1 diabetic, the onset of hyperglycaemia can be fairly abrupt due to fact the pancreas isn't producing any insulin at all, or nearly no insulin at all. This means there is absolutely no outlet for the glucose, as the levels just build and build rapidly. Type 1 diabetes is extremely dangerous and can result in death. It used to be known as Juvenile Diabetes, as it usually only affects the young, and any symptoms shouldn't be ignored and doctors should be consulted immediately as a matter of urgency.

For Type 2 diabetics, hyperglycaemia may take a long time to develop to the point the symptoms can be felt and noticed. Many people go through their entire lives unaware they have Type 2 diabetes, and take many of the symptoms as simply being signs of aging, especially since Type 2 Diabetes typically affects the middle aged adults onwards, hence its former name Adult Diabetes. In fairly recent years, due to the amount of children developing Type 2 Diabetes due to poor diets and obesity (the prime causes of Type 2 Diabetes), the name simply became Type 2 Diabetes.

As the symptoms of hyperglycaemia in Type 2 Diabetes can be extremely subtle, many people are completely unaware they have diabetes at all. Type 2 Diabetes is caused by one of two factors, the first factor being a lack of insulin production within the pancreas, the second being a condition known as 'insulin resistance'. This is where the body begins to reject admission of the insulin, which carries the glucose. Therefore, a person's body not only becomes starved of glucose as a fuel, but begins accumulating the glucose in the blood, which now has no outlet. The body may attempt to flush some of the glucose out of the body via urine.

Gestational Diabetes may perhaps be the most difficult form of diabetes to detect as the symptoms are so similar to a regular pregnancy it can be almost impossible to differentiate. For example, fatigue, increased appetite and thirst, and increased urination.

Gestational Diabetes is usually a temporary form of diabetes which disappears soon after the pregnancy, although it may leave the mother and child susceptible to developing permanent Type 2 Diabetes in the future.

Another worry concerning Gestational Diabetes is the damage it can do to the baby, which may be respiratory or cardiac problems, stillborn or death soon after birth. Untreated Gestational Diabetes can also be a contributing factor in later health problems as the baby reaches adulthood such as chronic obesity.

If you think you have even slightly felt any of the aforementioned symptoms of hyperglycaemia, it is highly important you see your G.P. as soon as possible. Diabetes isn't a disorder you want to second guess yourself, as it can be fatal, particularly in the case of Type 1 Diabetes.

Although diabetes can be an extremely dangerous disorder, upon diagnosis it is extremely treatable. The most important things for a diabetic to do are to take any prescribed medication and monitor blood sugar levels regularly. If you have been advised by your doctor to take with you an emergency insulin / glucose kit, you should do so at all times, as it may be fatal not to. The other factors include plenty of exercise to help regulate glucose levels, and a healthy balanced diet.

Nicky Pilkington
25 Jan 2007

Detailed information about athletes foot is available at http://www.athletes-foot.eu.

Different Types of Diabetes

Diabetes is a biological disorder in which a person's blood sugar (glucose) levels aren't been regulated as they should be. Glucose is our bodies' main energy source, and our brain and nervous system rely completely on glucose to function. Our bodies' natural blood sugar regulator is the pancreas, which carries out the task by producing insulin which ushers glucose into the needed parts of the body, such as the brain, muscles, and other organs. In the three different kinds of diabetes, this task isn't being carried out properly, and we'll examine each kind of diabetes, explain why this is so, and also expose the risks each form of diabetes presents.

Type 1 Diabetes

Type 1 Diabetes used to be known as 'Juvenile Diabetes' because of its tendency to strike a person in their childhood up to their early adulthood. It is also sometimes known as 'Insulin Dependant Diabetes', as a person with this condition is reliant upon insulin injections to survive.

It is the most serious form of diabetes and the least common. The cause for Type 1 Diabetes is usually pancreatic failure due to what is known as an 'autoimmune' malfunction. Autoimmunity is where our immune system mistakenly attacks healthy cells or tissues within the body much in the same way as it would a viral infection. Although the exact reasons for this malfunction aren't known, it does occur. In the case of Type 1 Diabetes, it is the insulin producing pancreatic cells which have incurred the wrath of the immune system, which attack until the pancreas is left permanently damaged, and incapable of producing any insulin, or hardly any insulin.

As a person with Type 1 Diabetes doesn't produce any insulin, their quota of insulin they inject is absolute. In other words, should their blood sugar levels rise, their pancreas is absolutely incapable of making any insulin to compensate for the shortfall. This can mean a person can find themselves becoming hyperglycaemic in a very short space of time. Hyperglycaemia is an excess of blood sugar, and the immediate symptoms can be increased thirst, hunger and tiredness as well as increased urination, blurred vision, nausea and possibly even vomiting. Other symptoms of hyperglycaemia which can develop are irritation of the genitals and yeast infections.

Another risk for those who have Type 1 Diabetes is the possibility of becoming the opposite of hyperglycaemic, which is hypoglycaemic. This is where there is a shortage of blood sugar, and the symptoms can be tiredness, confusion, dizziness, anxiety, and fever-like symptoms. Hyperglycaemia takes hold very quickly, and if the blood sugar isn't raised quickly, a person can end up unconscious, in a coma or even die in a very short space of time.

To counter these two extremes, a person with Type 1 Diabetes is usually advised to carry with them an emergency kit containing insulin injections and glucose injections or another ready-supply of glucose such as Lucozade energy sweets, which upon consumption raise blood sugar levels within minutes.

Type 2 Diabetes

Type 2 Diabetes used to be known as 'Adult Onset Diabetes', as when the term was given, it was thought only adults developed this form of diabetes. This has proven to be false as a soaring number of children throughout the world now develop this type of diabetes each year. Modern day living where too much bad food is consumed, not enough exercise is taken and childhood obesity is largely to blame for this.

The prime cause for Type 2 Diabetes isn't the failure of the pancreas, but more due to obesity and poor diets and unhealthy lifestyles. When a person overloads their body with sugar, as many obese people have done for years, this means persistent blood sugar levels, and the insulin and pancreas can struggle to deal with the sugar. The insulin ushers the sugar into the muscles, but the muscles don't burn the glucose off because no exercise is taken. The result is an accumulation of blood sugar for prolonged periods of time. This can lead to a condition called 'Insulin Resistance', which is the prime cause of Type 2 Diabetes. When a person becomes insulin resistant, their muscles and other would-be outlets for the glucose begin to resist entry to the insulin, therefore the glucose isn't delivered. This, over a period of time, results in a person experiencing symptoms of hyperglycaemia. A person with Type 2 Diabetes usually doesn't have to take medication, but is advised to take more exercise and stick to a healthy diet to help to keep their blood sugar levels under control. Most people who adhere to this advice can live their lives normally without medication or symptoms affecting them. In some cases of Type 2 Diabetes, a medication may be prescribed.

Gestational Diabetes

Gestational Diabetes is a temporary form of diabetes which affects roughly 2-3% of women during pregnancy, and usually alleviates soon after. This can be an extremely tricky form of diabetes to spot, as many symptoms are inline with those of a regular pregnancy, such as tiredness, blurred vision, increased appetite and thirst and increased urination.

It is, however, a very serious form of diabetes which if not picked up on can have severely damaging effects upon your baby, which may leave the baby with stillborn or dead soon after birth. This is a terrible consequence to pay for any person, so vigilance is imperative. If in doubt, you must consult you G.P. as soon as possible so you can seek advice and get any necessary medication. Gestational diabetes may also leave a child and mother with higher risk of developing Type 2 Diabetes further down the line, as well as a heightened risk of been an obese adult for the child.

Nicky Pilkington
01 Feb 2007

Detailed information about athletes foot is available at http://www.athletes-foot.eu.