Hypoglycemia

Hypoglycemia means low blood sugar or glucose. Your body needs glucose for energy. You continue to provide glucose, the fuel for your body, by taking in food. Your body breaks down, metabolizes the nutrients and converts it to the simplest form--glucose.

The glucose level will vary depending on the frequency and quantity of food intake and the complexity of the food. A protein or fat is very complex, and it takes your body longer to break it down or metabolize this into glucose. However, sugar or simple carbohydrates convert very quickly into glucose causing a rapid increase in blood sugar.

In hypoglycemia, this rapid rise in blood sugar "over-stimulates" the pancreas to produce and release too much insulin, causing a sudden decline in blood glucose. It is the intermittent sudden rise in blood sugar, followed by the rapid decline with too much insulin, which accounts for the symptoms.

The rise phase will cause nervousness, irritability, hyperactivity, jitters, impatience, headaches, and heart palpitations.

The rapid decrease phase will cause dizziness, confusion, fatigue, tremors, irritability, intense hunger, and nervousness.

Some of the underlying causes of hypoglycemia are:

Treatment begins with:

To diagnose hypoglycemia, your doctor will use your symptoms, history, and a test called the Glucose Tolerance Test. This test is administered in the morning after an overnight fast. The blood is drawn to see the baseline blood glucose, then you are given glucose to drink. Blood samples are then taken at regular intervals during a 3-5 hour period to find out your blood glucose curve.

In the normal response, your blood sugar will have a marked increase over an hour and then a gradual decrease over 2-4 hours. In the hypoglycemic, the blood sugar will rise sharply in 30-60 minutes, then fall rapidly over 2-3 hours, far below the acceptable norm.

The average consumption of sugar in the 18th century was approximately 7 pounds per adult per year. Today, the estimate has escalated to approximately 115 pounds per adult per year.

In hypoglycemia, with this "over-stimulation" on an on-going basis, it can eventually lead to a slowing of the pancreas, which does not release enough insulin to metabolize the food to glucose and diabetes develops.

This is why your history is important. If there is a history of diabetes in your family, you will need to be particularly careful and watch for hypoglycemia. This is, however, a treatable condition. If you suspect a problem, call Environmental Health and Allergy Center - St. Louis for an evaluation, as we can detect if you are hypoglycemic and determine the causitive factors.

Tipu Sultan, MD, is well-versed in Environmental Medicine. He believes in adhering to the Hippocratic Oath to "First, Do No Harm". He also believes in "Finding the Cause and Treating the Cause". Dr. Sultan states, "Most illnesses are caused by environmental, nutritional, dietary, and hormonal factors and it cannot get simpler than that."

Dr. Sultan heads the Environmental Health and Allergy Center - St. Louis, located at 11585 W. Florissant Avenue, Florissant, MO 63033 and can be reached by calling 314-921-5600 or Email.