Jakarta –
Low blood sugar or hypoglycemia is a condition when blood sugar is below the normal limit, namely less than 70 mg/dL. This condition can be experienced by everyone, even people with diabetes who experience increased blood sugar.
Like high blood sugar, low blood sugar is a serious condition. The reason is, if blood sugar levels are too low it can cause the brain to lack energy to carry out its functions properly. In the long term, hypoglycemia can even cause permanent defects in the brain.
Interestingly, low blood sugar is prone to occur in people with diabetes who experience an increase in blood sugar. Apart from that, low blood sugar can also attack people who are healthy. So, what are the causes of low blood sugar?
Causes of Low Blood Sugar
1. Diabetes Treatment
One method of treatment that is often used by diabetes sufferers is insulin injection therapy. This is done because the patient’s pancreas is unable to produce sufficient amounts of insulin, or when the insulin in the body does not work optimally, resulting in an increase in blood sugar levels.
By increasing the amount of insulin, it can reduce blood sugar levels. However, if insulin injection therapy is done too often, it can cause low blood sugar and trigger other complications.
2. Side Effects of Medicines
Apart from insulin injections, there are a number of other medicines that can help lower blood sugar, such as alpha glucosidase, sulfonylureas, biguanides, and so on. If these drugs are consumed too often, they can also cause blood sugar to drop too drastically, triggering hypoglycemia.
3. Consuming alcoholic drinks
The habit of consuming alcoholic drinks is one of the factors causing low blood sugar in healthy people. The liver functions to process alcohol so that it can be excreted from the body. While this process is taking place, the liver will stop producing the glucose that the body needs.
If this happens too often, it can cause blood sugar levels to drop drastically and increase the risk of hypoglycemia.
4. Strenuous exercise
When exercising, the body will use more energy than usual. Glucose in the body plays an important role in supplying the energy needed.
Therefore, the harder the exercise you do, the greater the glucose and energy used. If someone frequently exercises vigorously without making efforts to restore glucose levels in the body, this can increase the risk of experiencing low blood sugar.
5. Certain Diet Patterns
Certain dietary patterns, such as intermittent fasting, can also trigger the risk of low blood sugar. Usually, this occurs when a person does not eat or drink for 8 hours or more.
For people who often follow ‘fasting’ diets like this, doctors recommend consuming water frequently to avoid dehydration. Because dehydration is also a factor that can cause changes in blood sugar levels.
Watch the video “Beware of Diabetes in Children”
(ath/naf)
2023-12-08 11:36:12
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