Nearly one in three diabetics in the nation have suffered more than once from hypoglycemia, a condition characterized by abnormally low blood sugar that can cause sufferers to pass out or even lapse into a life-threatening condition.
“While it is the primary task of every diabetic to keep their blood sugar levels under control, they often neglect the dangers of hypoglycemia, which is mostly caused by the insulin or other anti-diabetic drugs, such as sulfonylureas, that they use,” Diabetes Association of the Republic of China director-general Wayne Sheu (許惠恒) told a press conference in Taipei yesterday.
Sheu said hypoglycemia is generally defined as blood glucose level below 70 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dl) and its symptoms could be mild, moderate or severe, ranging from trembling, fingertips numbness, blurry vision and feebleness to unconsciousness, dangerously low body temperature and even death.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
Citing a survey conducted by the International Diabetes Federation last year among 2,257 type 2 diabetes patients in Taiwan, China, South Korea, Malaysia and Thailand, Sheu said about 29.4 percent of the 609 Taiwanese polled said they had experienced hypoglycemic symptoms in the past six months before the survey.
“The majority, or 68.7 percent, of them exhibited mild symptoms — the highest among peer countries — while 8.9 suffered from moderate symptoms and 22.3 percent from severe ones,” Sheu said.
Sheu said the survey also showed that the more severe the hypoglycemic episodes experienced were, the more worried diabetics become about their physical condition and less satisfied they are with their quality of life.
Taiwan Society of Cardiology honorary director Lin Shing-jong (林幸榮) said that in addition to the negative psychological effects, a study published by a group of Taipei Veterans General Hospital doctors last year also established a link between diabetes patients with hypoglycemia and an increased risk of stroke, coronary heart disease, and cardiovascular diseases.
“Moreover, a 2009 study of 16,667 patients with an average age of 65 years and type 2 diabetes also linked a history of severe hypoglycemic episodes with a greater risk of dementia,” Lin said.
Wang Chih-yuan (王治元), an attending surgeon in National Taiwan University Hospital’s Department of Internal Medicine, said the three types of diabetics most vulnerable to hypoglycemia were elderly people suffering from a declining regulatory mechanism for blood glucose level, those who failed to eat the same quantity of food on a regular basis and those who received the combination therapy of metformin and sulfonylurea.
The first type was advised to enhance their self-monitoring of blood sugar levels and develop a support system and the second was urged to maintain regular eating habits, Wang said.
“As for the last type of patients, they should discuss their symptoms with their doctors to seek the most suitable anti-diabetic treatment for themselves, in an effort to prevent future hypoglycemia,” Wang said.
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