What is low blood sugar? When is it dangerous? Reduce how?

Video content is consulted by General Internal Medicine - Department of Examination & Internal Medicine - Vinmec Nha Trang International General Hospital.

“What is low blood sugar?” or “how to lower blood sugar quickly?” These are questions that many people are interested in. Sharing about this issue, the doctor of Vinmec Nha Trang General Hospital said that hypoglycemia can occur in any subject, even healthy people who do not have diabetes.

Low blood sugar is not a disease but a symptom of many causes such as:
Fasting to lose weight; Skipping food due to illness; Meals high in flour and sugar; Using foods that increase insulin; Alcoholism. In addition, low blood sugar can also occur in people with liver failure, kidney failure, pancreatic tumor, surgery in the gastrointestinal tract, paraneoplastic syndromes...
Usually, the symptoms subside. Blood sugar is often transient, so patients often do not notice, including:
Dizziness, headache, less focus on work, irritability; Hunger, shaking hands, sweating, nervousness, heart palpitations; Double vision, dizziness, confusion, lethargy, coma (severe stage of hypoglycemia); Coma due to low blood sugar is a dangerous condition, the patient needs to be treated promptly so that it is not life-threatening.
In some cases, it is necessary to diagnose the cause of low blood sugar, such as doing a 72-hour fasting test continuously at a hospital with medical staff monitoring. Depending on the cause of hypoglycemia, there are appropriate treatment methods:
If the patient is still awake, it is necessary to give food and drink to supplement to help increase blood sugar; In case the patient is unconscious, not aware, it is necessary to immediately take him to a medical facility for timely emergency medical attention. In addition to learning about how to reduce blood sugar (high blood sugar), each person should also prevent low blood sugar by:
Split meals during the day, limit skipping meals; Limit alcohol; Treatment of stable underlying disease; It is advisable to have a snack before exercise;