Hypoglycemia is also a relatively common symptom in life. It mainly occurs in people who eat too little or have not eaten for a long time. This disease will cause many adverse effects on health and requires timely treatment and recovery. To avoid further harm to health, what are the dangers of low blood sugar? How to give first aid when hypoglycemia occurs? Let’s learn more about first aid and prevention methods for hypoglycemia.

1. Prevention and first aid of hypoglycemia

Hypoglycemia refers to when the blood sugar concentration is lower than a certain level, causing sympathetic nerve overexcitation and brain dysfunction. Severe cases may lead to coma. Early and timely supplementation of glucose can alleviate the condition. Periods of irreversible brain damage or even death may occur.

Patients first experience hunger, fatigue, numbness of limbs, emotional restlessness, pale complexion, dizziness, vomiting, palpitation, chest tightness, etc. In severe cases, there may be heavy bleeding, clammy skin, unclear vomiting, difficulty concentrating, and sometimes convulsions, convulsions, unconsciousness, incontinence of urine and feces, coma, etc.

First aid measures:

1. Absolute bed rest and glucose supplementation are the key to determining the prognosis. Timely sugar supplementation will completely relieve the symptoms; delay in treatment will cause irreversible brain damage. Therefore, it should be emphasized that at the time of hypoglycemia, any substance with higher sugar content, such as biscuits, juice, etc., should be given immediately. Severe cases should pay attention to accidentally inhaling food into the lungs and choking into the trachea, causing aspiration pneumonia or atelectasis.

2. Hypoglycemia patients who can feed themselves should eat a diet low in sugar, high in protein, and high in fat. Eat small meals frequently and add sugar once at midnight if necessary.

3. Intravenous injection of 50% glucose and 40-60ml is the most commonly used and effective method to rescue hypoglycemia. If the condition is not serious and the water content causes serious damage to brain function, the symptoms can be relieved quickly and the mind can be awakened immediately.

Preventive measures:

For hypoglycemia, "prevention is better than cure" must be achieved, and preventing hypoglycemia is the best treatment for diabetic hypoglycemia. The following points should be paid attention to in preventing hypoglycemia:

1. Use insulin and oral hypoglycemic drugs rationally. Excessive drug use is the main cause of hypoglycemia. Adjust the drug dosage in a timely manner according to the condition, especially for those with concurrent kidney disease, liver disease, heart disease, and renal insufficiency. Master the characteristics of various insulins and correct injection techniques. Change injection sites regularly to prevent subcutaneous induration from affecting insulin absorption.

2. Live a regular life, develop good living habits, quit smoking and drinking, eat regularly and quantitatively, and maintain a basically stable daily food intake. Actively adopt a meal-sharing system and eat at least three meals a day. Patients who are prone to hypoglycemia or whose condition is unstable should also add 2-3 snacks between three main meals, that is, even out some food from the three main meals and reserve them for snacks. Diabetic patients can generally have a meal at 9:00-10:00 am, 3:00-4:00 pm and before going to bed in the evening. This is an effective measure to prevent hypoglycemia and control hyperglycemia and is worth taking.

3. Exercise therapy is one of the five pillars of comprehensive treatment for diabetic patients. Exercise can lower blood sugar in diabetic patients, improve insulin sensitivity, and improve mental outlook. But for diabetic patients, moderate or light exercise is recommended. Strenuous exercise can cause hypoglycemia. Therefore, when strenuous exercise or physical activity increases, you should add a meal in time or reduce the dosage of insulin as appropriate.

4. Self-monitoring of blood glucose can significantly reduce the incidence of hypoglycemia. Some patients are in unstable condition and often experience hypoglycemia at night. Therefore, blood sugar should be monitored before going to bed. If the blood sugar is low, an appropriate meal can be eaten before going to bed. For patients with asymptomatic hypoglycemia, blood glucose monitoring should be strengthened, the dose of insulin should be reduced in a timely manner, and diet and exercise treatment plans should be adjusted.

5. Every diabetic patient should carry two treasures with him when going out: First, food, such as candies, biscuits, etc., in case of hypoglycemia, which can be corrected in time to avoid severe hypoglycemia. The second is the emergency card (indicate name, diagnosis, phone number, medication, etc.), which provides important information about diabetes first aid, so that severe hypoglycemia can be diagnosed and treated in the shortest time.

2. How to identify hypoglycemia

1. Hunger does not equal hypoglycemia

Many diabetic patients believe that as long as hunger symptoms occur, it means hypoglycemia has occurred. blood sugar. In fact, feeling hungry does not necessarily mean hypoglycemia, it may also be hyperglycemia. When you feel hungry, you must monitor your blood sugar in time to determine whether your blood sugar is high or low to avoid blind treatment.

2. Hypoglycemia may not have symptoms

In fact, when blood sugar is lower than normal, some patients have symptoms while others have no symptoms. Asymptomatic hypoglycemia is more common in elderly patients with diabetes and those who have frequent long-term hypoglycemia, which is clinically called "asymptomatic hypoglycemia."

3. Symptoms of hypoglycemia vary widely

Clinical observations have found that the clinical manifestations of hypoglycemia in diabetic patients of different ages are not exactly the same. For example, hypoglycemia in infants and young children can manifest as difficulty in breastfeeding, crying, irritability, cold sweats, lack of concentration, nightmares, enuresis, etc. It can manifest as bedwetting at night, and the symptoms are not specific. , which can only be discovered by careful observation. Hypoglycemia in adults often has typical symptoms, mainly symptoms of sympathetic nervous excitement, such as hunger, palpitation, hand shaking, sweating, and limb weakness. Hypoglycemia that occurs in the elderly is often characterized by neurological symptoms of hypoglycemia, such as drowsiness, disturbance of consciousness, hemiplegia, epileptic convulsions, coma, etc.