High blood sugar is scary, but low blood sugar is even scarier. How many misunderstandings about low blood sugar have you come across?

Speaking of high blood sugar, the public is not unfamiliar with it. But when it comes to hypoglycemia, many people may never take hypoglycemia seriously. High blood sugar can cause diabetes, but the harm of hypoglycemia is no less than that of high blood sugar, and it may even cause people to fall into a coma. The public may not know much about hypoglycemia. Even some doctors have misunderstandings about hypoglycemia. How many of these misunderstandings about hypoglycemia have you seen?

Myth 1: The symptoms of hypoglycemia are the same for everyone

In 2016, I also experienced hypoglycemia. It can be said that hypoglycemia occurred very suddenly when I was writing in the office. I suddenly felt panic, sweating, and weakness in my limbs. Coincidentally, there was a box of chocolates in the drawer. After eating the chocolates, the symptoms were relieved, and the symptoms of hypoglycemia were completely relieved two hours later.

Palpitations, tremors, sweating, and weakness in the limbs are symptoms of hypoglycemia that many people are familiar with, but not everyone will experience the same symptoms when they have hypoglycemia. Adults experience symptoms of sympathetic nerve excitement, which means hunger, palpitations, tremors, sweating, fatigue, etc. Older diabetics either have no symptoms when they have hypoglycemia, or they will show neurological symptoms, such as abnormal speech and behavior, convulsions, hemiplegia, impaired consciousness, coma, etc. These symptoms are often misdiagnosed.

Myth 2: Low blood sugar means hunger

Hunger has always been considered the most reliable warning sign of hypoglycemia. Sometimes when friends are chatting, if they feel hungry, they will joke about their hypoglycemia. In fact, hunger is not always caused by hypoglycemia. Some diabetics feel hungry even when they are in a state of high blood sugar because of insulin deficiency or insulin resistance.

During the treatment, diabetics may need to take hypoglycemic drugs to control blood sugar. Because the blood sugar of diabetics drops too quickly, they may also experience hypoglycemia symptoms such as palpitations, sweating, hand tremors, and limb weakness. In fact, the blood sugar of diabetics may still be high or within the normal range, which is also a problem after taking certain hypoglycemic drugs. Diabetics need to monitor their blood sugar changes and adjust the dosage of the drugs.

Myth 3: Hypoglycemia is harmless

For people with high blood sugar, the biggest worry is that the blood sugar is too high. If the blood sugar is often at a high level, the complications will be aggravated. Therefore, many diabetics dream of lowering their blood sugar, and even the lower the better. In fact, the harm of low blood sugar is no less than that of high blood sugar. Sometimes, the harm caused by low blood sugar is more serious than that of high blood sugar.

The symptoms of hypoglycemia that we often talk about, such as palpitations, sweating, hand tremors, and weakness in the limbs, are only symptoms of mild hypoglycemia. These symptoms will be quickly relieved when high sugar is supplemented in time, so hypoglycemia is also ignored by many people. Severe hypoglycemia can cause brain dysfunction, confusion, and even coma and death. If it is long-term chronic hypoglycemia, it will also lead to decreased cognitive ability and the onset of Alzheimer's disease. If the harm of high blood sugar to the human body is calculated in years, the harm of hypoglycemia to the body needs to be calculated in seconds, and the damage to the brain is irreversible.

Myth 4: Steamed bread can relieve hypoglycemia

When talking about how to relieve the symptoms of hypoglycemia, a friend shared his experience. He was buying vegetables at the market when he had symptoms of hypoglycemia. He happened to be near a steamed bun shop, so he bought two large steamed buns and ate them quickly. When hypoglycemia occurs, eating starchy foods such as steamed buns or biscuits to relieve the symptoms of hypoglycemia is advisable, but it is not the best choice.

When symptoms of hypoglycemia occur, because the harm of hypoglycemia to the brain is irreversible, it is necessary to race against time to relieve the symptoms of hypoglycemia. Although starchy foods contain a certain amount of sugar, because starchy foods such as steamed bread are "polysaccharides", they are not as direct as high-sugar foods such as candy or honey. These high-sugar foods break down into glucose faster after entering the human body, which can quickly relieve the symptoms of hypoglycemia and reduce the harm of hypoglycemia to the body.

Myth 5: The diagnostic criteria for hypoglycemia are the same

Hypoglycemia is not hyperglycemia. Many people think that the diagnostic indicators of hypoglycemia are the same. In fact, because diabetics have a higher risk of hypoglycemia, hypoglycemia has a greater impact on them. For diabetics, the hypoglycemia indicators are slightly higher than those of ordinary people.

The normal value of blood sugar is 3.9~6.1mmol/L. If the blood sugar of a diabetic is lower than 3.9 mmol/L, it can be diagnosed as hypoglycemia, and you should pay attention to it immediately. For ordinary people, hypoglycemia will only be diagnosed when the blood sugar is lower than 2.8 mmol/L.

Diabetes is terrible, but hypoglycemia is even more terrible. We should pay attention to high blood sugar, and we must not ignore hypoglycemia. Diabetics should pay more attention to hypoglycemia. We should all understand the misunderstandings about hypoglycemia.