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# Diabetic Emergencies | |
Diabetes is a disease that affects the body's ability to process | |
sugars in food. Someone with diabetes can suddenly become ill if he | |
has too much, or too little, sugar in his blood. Diabetes is more | |
common in people who are overweight, but anyone can get diabetes. | |
The chapter on Diabetes has more information about prevention and | |
treatment of diabetes. | |
diabetes | |
If you know someone is having a problem due to diabetes but you are | |
not sure if the problem is from low blood sugar or high blood sugar, | |
treat as if he has low blood sugar (give a small amount of sugar), | |
and then take him to get medical help. | |
## Low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) | |
This condition can only happen to a person treating his diabetes with | |
medicines. A person's blood sugar can drop too low if he is taking | |
insulin or another diabetes medication and if he takes too much | |
medicine, does not eat enough food, does too much physical activity, | |
waits too long between meals, or drinks alcohol. | |
Someone with low blood sugar may become clumsy, confused, nervous or | |
irritable. He may sweat or tremble. When that happens, he must eat. | |
If he does not, his condition will worsen and will develop these | |
danger signs: | |
A man having trouble walking as a woman ignores him. | |
Low blood sugar can look a lot like the person is drunk and can be | |
overlooked as being a real emergency. | |
Danger signs | |
* Trouble walking or feeling weak | |
* Trouble seeing clearly | |
* Confusion or acting in a strange way (you may mistake him for | |
being drunk) | |
* Losing consciousness | |
* Seizure | |
Treatment | |
If he is conscious, quickly give him sugar: fruit juice, soda, candy, | |
or a glass of water with several spoons of sugar in it will all work. | |
He should eat a full meal soon after as well. If he is still confused | |
or does not begin to feel better 15 minutes after you have given | |
sugar, get help. | |
If he is unconscious, place a pinch of sugar or honey under his | |
tongue. Keep giving small amounts. It takes time for the body to | |
absorb sugar. When he wakes up you can give him more. | |
## High blood sugar (hyperglycemia) | |
A person with diabetes can have too much sugar in his blood if he | |
eats too much food, is less active than usual, has a serious illness | |
or infection, does not take his diabetes medicine, or gets | |
dehydrated. This can happen to a person even if he does not yet know | |
he has diabetes. Get help for these signs: | |
Signs | |
* Feeling thirsty and drinking a lot | |
* Frequent urination | |
* Blurry vision | |
* Weight loss | |
* Nausea and vomiting | |
* Abdominal pain | |
If not treated, high blood sugar can be very dangerous and can lead | |
to a coma or even death. You can save a person's life by getting | |
help for these more dangerous signs: | |
Danger signs | |
* Fast heart rate | |
* Fruity odor on breath | |
* Dry skin | |
* Low blood pressure | |
* Confusion | |
* Fast, deep breathing | |
* Loss of consciousness | |
Treatment | |
Take him immediately to a medical center. If he is conscious, give | |
him plenty of water to drink. Give a little at a time. | |
If you are certain he has high blood sugar and know his insulin dose, | |
give a small amount of insulin on the way to help. But if you are | |
not certain, do not give insulin. Giving someone insulin when they | |
have low blood sugar can kill them. | |
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