11 How about discussing hypoglycemia?
Description
This article is from the Diabetes FAQ, by Edward Reid edward@paleo.org with numerous contributions by others.
11 How about discussing hypoglycemia?
To clarify: the term "hypoglycemia" is used to refer to two distinct
conditions. The word just means "low blood glucose". This can occur as
an insulin reaction, the result of too much injected insulin (taken to
treat diabetes) compared to food intake and exercise. But low blood
glucose can also be a chronic condition resulting from abnormalities of
insulin secretion, and this chronic condition is also called
hypoglycemia.
Chronic hypoglycemia may be caused by beta cells which overreact to an
increase in blood glucose (bg) by releasing too much insulin, which
then causes a too-rapid drop in bG. Such a condition, called reactive
hypoglycemia, is usually handled by dietary adjustments, in particular
avoiding refined sugars and large meals which stimulate the
overreaction. This often requires an effort in calculating the diet and
monitoring bG levels that is equal to what anyone with diabetes needs.
Tumors (insulinomas) can cause a steady overproduction of insulin.
These generally require surgical removal.
There are other causes as well. Mayer Davidson discusses some in his
book "Diabetes Mellitus: Diagnosis and Treatment". But you'll have to
find the Second Edition, because he dropped this chapter from the Third
Edition. I don't believe anyone claims to understand all the causes of
hypoglycemia. The US NIDDK has a booklet online which discusses some of
the less common causes:
http://www.niddk.nih.gov/health/diabetes/pubs/hypo/hypo.htm
So chronic hypoglycemia is closely related to diabetes mellitus in
being a disorder of insulin production and use, and requires many of
the same techniques for its treatment. The two are a natural for
discussion in the same newsgroup. Which is good, since there really
isn't anywhere else in Usenet at present to discuss chronic
hypoglycemia. Welcome.
A hypoglycemia mailing list, HYPO-L, is available and sees moderate
traffic. See the section on mailing lists in part 4 of this FAQ for
subscription information.
Lars Idema maintains a hypoglycemia FAQ and information on a variety of
hypoglycemia resources on the Internet. See his web page at
http://hypoglykemie.nl
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