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Hypoglycemia is low blood sugar. Often people with diabetes experience it when their bodies don't have enough sugar to use as fuel.
Sometimes the symptoms are obvious, but other times they're not and it's those times one doctor wants people to be aware of.
Anyone who has diabetes knows how important it is to keep blood sugar levels steady. Someone you know may need to check blood levels often, or in some cases inject insulin to help their bodies use the glucose in their blood.
"Low blood sugar can be really dangerous to a patient's health."
Dr. Jila Kaberi-Otarod works at the Center for Nutrition and Weight Management at Geisinger Medical Center. We met her at Geisinger-CMC in Scranton to talk about hypoglycemia or low blood sugar.
"In a mildly low blood sugar, usually people get shaky. They may feel dizzy, not well. In that case they can take orange juice, candy, sugar to hit their blood quickly. That's not a problem."
Dr. Kaberi-Otarod says she especially wants people to realize that some patients may not even be aware there's a problem.
"Those symptoms that we're talking about, they might not present in elderly patients the same way. So they may not be aware of low blood sugar at all."
Watch out for the following symptoms: confusion, change of mental status, seizures, stroke-like symptoms, or difficulty walking which can then lead to falls and injuries such as broken bones.
Sometimes these are signs of hypoglycemia, and generally require the help of a medical professional.
According to Dr. Kaberi Otarod, if low blood sugar is severe enough to send someone to the hospital regularly, it may be associated with an increased risk of dementia, especially in elderly patients.
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