Digestive Endocrine And Circulatory Systems
After you eat, your digestive system breaks down carbohydrates and turns them into glucose. Essentially, glucose is your bodys fuel source.
As your sugar levels rise, your pancreas releases a hormone called insulin, which helps glucose get taken up and used by cells throughout your body. If you have insulin-dependent diabetes, you must take the right about of insulin to get the job done.
Any excess glucose goes to your liver for storage.
When you go a few hours without eating, blood sugar levels go down. If you have a healthy pancreas, it releases a hormone called glucagon to make up for the absence of food. This hormone tells your liver to process the stored sugars and release them into your bloodstream.
If everything works as it should, your blood sugar levels should remain in the normal range until your next meal.
Insufficient blood sugar levels can cause a rapid heartbeat and heart palpitations. However, even if you have diabetes, you may not always have obvious symptoms of low blood sugar. This is a potentially dangerous condition called hypoglycemia unawareness. It happens when you experience low blood sugar so often that it changes your bodys response to it.
Normally, low blood sugar causes your body to release stress hormones, such as epinephrine. Epinephrine is responsible for those early warning signs, like hunger and shakiness.
Preventing Low Blood Sugar
If you have diabetes, these tips can help reduce your chances of getting low blood sugar:
- check your blood sugar regularly and be aware of the symptoms of a low blood sugar so you can treat them quickly
- always carry a sugary snack or drink with you, such as dextrose tablets, a carton of fruit juice or some sweets-if you have a glucagon injection kit, keep it with you at all times
- don’t skip meals
- be careful when drinking alcohol – don’t drink large amounts in a short space of time, and avoid drinking on an empty stomach
- take care when exercising – eating a carbohydrate-containing snack before exercise can help reduce the risk of a hypo
- have a carbohydrate-containing snack, such as biscuits or toast, before going to bed to stop your blood sugar level dipping too low while you sleep
If you keep getting low blood sugar, talk to your diabetes care team about things you can do to help prevent it.
Seizures Caused By Low Blood Sugar
Experts think that low blood sugar condition is five to ten times more frequent than diabetes in the U.S.A. Roberts and Hurdle estimate that 50 million Americans suffer from it. Nittler thinks the real number is much higher, and closer to 80% of the population.Misdiagnosis included asthma, neurosis, imaginary sickness, epilepsy, psychosis, nervous skin disease, arthritis, hypertension, menopause, mental retardation, childbirth psychosis, diabetes, alcoholism, Meniere’s syndrome, cerebral arteriosclerosis. In some cases hypoglycemia was properly diagnosed, but erroneously treated with sugar.Hypoglycemia is connected with nutritional imbalances in most of the cases and treated mostly by the proper diet. Therefore it is very important to understand the sugar control of our body. Emotions can cause trouble through the adrenal glands, especially if they are strong or continuous. Like any other stress, emotions cause the adrenals to secrete adrenalin to release more stored sugar. After the sugar reserve of the liver and the muscles are exhausted, the proper blood sugar level cannot be maintained. It drops. Deficient diet, or malfunctioning organs may cause the same result. MSG triples the amount of insulin the pancreas creates, producing low blood sugar !!!
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Treating Someone Having A Seizure
Follow these steps if someone has a seizure due to low blood sugar:
Tell your diabetes care team if you ever have a severe hypo that caused you to have a seizure.
What Are The Complications
Diabetic seizures can lead to many problems and complications which can be both long and short term including:
- Injury
- Falling against items or falling and hitting your head
- Biting your tongue and causing injury
- If a seizure occurs while driving you will become unconscious and have an accident
Can hypoglycemia be a reason behind an experienced seizure?
Is it possible that the seizure I experienced could be attributed to other reasons than the hypoglycemic episode I had?
Further reading:
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What Causes A Seizure In People With Epilepsy
Epilepsy is a chronic neurological disorder in which clusters of nerve cells, or neurons, in the brain sometimes signal abnormally and cause seizures. Neurons normally generate electrical and chemical signals that act on other neurons, glands, and muscles to produce human thoughts, feelings, and actions. During a seizure, many neurons fire at the same timeas many as 500 times a second, much faster than normal. This surge of excessive electrical activity happening at the same time causes involuntary movements, sensations, emotions, and behaviors and the temporary disturbance of normal neuronal activity may cause a loss of awareness. Treatment includes medication, surgery, and diet.
How To Prevent Seizures From Low Blood Sugar
Preventing diabetes-related seizures starts with decreasing the number of hypoglycemic events you experience. If you suffer from severe low blood sugars several times a week or more, talk to your healthcare provider about adjusting your insulin dosages or diet. You may need to change your basal rates or adjust the timing of your insulin doses to better match your meals. You may need to increase the number of carbohydrates you eat in a day or adjust your exercise regimen.
Some other tactics that may help decrease the amount of low blood sugar episodes you experience include:
- Wearing a continuous glucose monitor to track trends in blood sugars, and enable alarms for low blood sugar
- Wearing an insulin pump to fine-tune your management
- Keep a source of fast-acting sugar on hand at all times
- Treat low blood sugars earlier
- Tell your friends and family about the symptoms you experience while going low, so they can help in an emergency
- If you suffer from hypo unawareness, consider getting a diabetes alert dog to help you manage low blood sugars
- Eat regular meals and snacks. Do not skip meals, especially once insulin is given
- Eating a snack and keeping a very close eye on blood sugar levels when and after drinking alcohol
- Wearing a medical alert bracelet when out in public and especially when exercising
- Having an emergency contact number on you at all times
- Not exercising alone
- Adjusting insulin doses when exercising
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Should I Take Extra Minerals
Persons with epilepsy very seldom need to take extra sodium, calcium, or magnesium for seizure control. If your doctor finds that you have low levels in your body and no underlying disorder is identified, it may be reasonable to change your diet or take a mineral supplement. Taking extra doses of certain minerals can help to prevent side effects that may follow the long-term use of some seizure medicines. Check the specific information about the medicines you take to see if this applies to you.
Are People With Diabetes More Likely To Have Epilepsy
A number of studies have investigated diabetes and its link to epilepsy, with most research focusing on type 1 diabetes.
A 2016 study, published in the journal Diabetologia, found that people with type 1 diabetes were 2.84 times more likely to develop epilepsy than those without type 1 diabetes.
Researchers are not clear on why people with type 1 diabetes may have a higher risk of developing epilepsy. One theory is that autoimmunity may be involved, while its also been suggested that prolonged high blood sugar levels could increase the likelihood of seizures. These theories have yet to be adequately tested and confirmed, though.
In 2012 Italian scientists examined these underlying mechanisms in a review titled Seizures and type 1 diabetes mellitus: current state of knowledge.
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What To Do If Your Dog Suffers From A Seizure
If your lovely pet collapses and you notice a seizure, some things that you can do to help the poor animal are:
- First, stay positive and calm.
- Next, carefully hold your pet and put him away from the objects that might hurt him, such as furniture, tables, stairs, etc.
- Never touch or put anything inside the dogs mouth as he can bite you.
- Speak politely to him and calm him down with gentle touches.
- If possible, time the seizure.
If the seizure in your dog continues for more than a few minutes, then your dog might overheat. Here we recommend placing a fan close to your dog to blow cool air and at the same time wrap a cool and damp cloth around the dogs paws to cool him down and to regulate its body temperature.
If the seizure is present for more than four or five minutes, dont do anything just take your dog to your veterinarian to manage this severe condition.
When the seizure is over within a couple of minutes, call the doctor and schedule an appointment for the dogs physical evaluation. In some cases, your vet might perform lab work to diagnose and figure out the potential underlying causes. If they diagnose any medical problem, they will prescribe the treatment plan according to your dogs condition.
In most cases, the veterinarian recommends an anti-seizure medication like phenobarbital, potassium bromide, or levetiracetam to treat the seizures and to prevent the pet from aftershocks.
What Factors Cause Low Levels Of Minerals In The Body
Mineral deficiency is rare unless there is severe general malnutrition, but the following factors may affect mineral levels in the body:
- Low sodium levels may be caused by medications such as diuretics or carbamazepine and oxcarbazepine , by excessive water intake, or by hormonal disorders.
- Low calcium levels most often result from kidney disease or hormonal disorders. They also may be linked to low magnesium levels.
- Low magnesium levels can be the result of chronic abuse of alcohol and poor nutrition. Low magnesium levels can lead to seizures and also can cause low calcium levels.
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Hypoglycemia Seizure In Puppies
Puppies, especially those of some small dog breeds such as Yorkshire terriers, toy poodles, and Chihuahuas, are more prone to hypoglycemia seizures because they have smaller glycogen stores.
Due to this, such dog breeds cannot preserve large quantities of liver or muscle glycogen, and puppies are more dependent on regular meals to maintain the correct blood glucose levels.
Furthermore, stressful incidents and colds can also cause hypoglycemia in small dog breeds and puppies. If a small puppy gets ill due to any reason or has stopped eating, it means the pet needs immediate treatment with fluids and glucose to avoid hypoglycemia.
Is There A Link Between Diabetes And Epilepsy
Research seems to suggest that there is a link between diabetes and epilepsy:
- Type 1 Diabetes: various studies have shown that people with Type 1 Diabetes appear to be more likely to have epilepsy than the general population
- Type 2 Diabetes: A study in Taiwan found that people with Type 2 Diabetes have a higher risk of developing epilepsy than people who do not have diabetes
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Causes Of Low Blood Sugar
In people with diabetes, the main causes of low blood sugar are:
- taking too much diabetes medicine especially too much insulin, medicines called sulphonylureas or medicines called glinides
- skipping or delaying a meal
- eating less carbohydrate-containing food than usual, such as bread, cereals, pasta, potato and fruit
- exercise or activity, especially if it’s intense or unplanned
- binge drinking or drinking alcohol on an empty stomach
Sometimes there’s no obvious reason why low blood sugar happens.
Very occasionally, it can happen in people who don’t have diabetes – see section on low blood sugar without diabetes.
A Low Blood Sugar Level And Driving
You may still be allowed to drive if you have diabetes or you’re at risk of a low blood sugar level for another reason, but you’ll need to do things to reduce the chance of this happening while you’re driving.
You also need to tell the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency and your car insurance company about your condition.
For more information, see:
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Ask D’mine: All About Seizures And Cold Funky Feet
Who doesnt sometimes need help navigating life with diabetes? Thats why we offer Ask DMine, our weekly advice column, hosted by veteran type 1, diabetes author and community educator Wil Dubois. This week hes offering some thoughts on diabetes and seizures, and well, funky toenail concerns.
: Im 22 and Ive been a diagnosed diabetic for 8 years. My A1Cs are always under 6%. Ive been reading a lot of diabetic blogs and diabetic support group stuff, and Ive noticed that a lot of type 1s have had seizures. Ive never had one, but I did have an absolutely insane roommate that claimed that I might not even know if I had had one. Is there any reality to this? Could I have had a seizure and not known about it? I read that the seizures themselves do raise your blood sugar.
Coma, seizure, and death. The three horsemen of the diabetes apocalypse. Google that trio of words and youll get around 8 million hits. Thats a whole bunch of comas, seizures, and deaths.
So we hear it a lot. As in, if your blood sugar goes too low it can result in coma, seizure, and death. That sounds pretty damn scary, but we rarely see any intelligent discussion around what its all about. What causes the seizure? What the f is a seizure, really? Are all seizures created equal?
In point of fact, a diabetic seizure is a series of muscle convulsions similar to an epileptic seizure. Both are caused by confused neurons in the brain.
Or she could just be the fourth horsemen .
Signs And Symptoms Of Low Blood Glucose
Each person’s reaction to low blood glucose is different. Learn your own signs and symptoms of when your blood glucose is low. Taking time to write these symptoms down may help you learn your own symptoms of when your blood glucose is low. From milder, more common indicators to most severe, signs and symptoms of low blood glucose include:
- Feeling shaky
- Color draining from the skin
- Feeling sleepy
- Feeling weak or having no energy
- Blurred/impaired vision
- Tingling or numbness in the lips, tongue, or cheeks
- Headaches
- Nightmares or crying out during sleep
- Seizures
The only sure way to know whether you are experiencing low blood glucose is to check your blood glucose levels, if possible. If you are experiencing symptoms and you are unable to check your blood glucose for any reason, treat the hypoglycemia.
A low blood glucose level triggers the release of epinephrine , the fight-or-flight hormone. Epinephrine is what can cause the symptoms of hypoglycemia such as thumping heart, sweating, tingling, and anxiety.
If the blood sugar glucose continues to drop, the brain does not get enough glucose and stops functioning as it should. This can lead to blurred vision, difficulty concentrating, confused thinking, slurred speech, numbness, and drowsiness. If blood glucose stays low for too long, starving the brain of glucose, it may lead to seizures, coma, and very rarely death.
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How Does Someone Feel After A Seizure
Many people will not remember having the seizure. If it goes unwitnessed, some may not even know that they are having them.
Although all individuals experience them differently, some common post seizure effects include:
- Headache
- Difficulty concentrating
- A general not feeling well state
These effects can last a day or two after a seizure is experienced. As mentioned above, everyone is different. For someone that does not physically convulse, they may only have a hard time concentrating and not general achiness. It is very important to be in tune with your body and know when something is not right.
How Long Do They Last
Diabetic seizures can last anywhere from seconds to minutes. The longer that it lasts, the more damage it can cause to the brain because of the lack of oxygen. The most important thing to do is to administer glucose to the person or to call 911 if there is no safe way to give glucose.
If a seizure ever lasts more than three minutes, emergency medical services should be called immediately, regardless if the person is known to have seizures or not. Having one for this long can be very bad for all of the organs in the body, not only the brain. The person needs to be checked out at the hospital.
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