Hypoglycaemia
Hypoglycaemia is defined as having a blood glucose level below 2.6 millimoles per litre. The symptoms are sweating, pallor and initially headache. This progresses to irritability and, if glucose is not provided, the patient sinks into unconsciousness - a condition called hypoglycaemic coma. This can be complicated by convulsions, particularly in the infant and young child, whose threshold for convulsions is lower than that of the adult. The management of hypoglycaemia, and the prevention of hypoglycaemic coma, requires the provision of glucose as soon as the first symptoms appear. All patients with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (and the parents of the little people who suffer) should carry with them a supply of suitable sugars.
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