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The Miguel Servet Hospital in Zaragoza organizes, together with the Diabetic Association ADE Zaragoza and Lilly, a day on how to act in the event of hypoglycemia, aimed at family members, children, adolescents and caregivers.
El fear to hypoglycemia (low glucose levels) is usually present especially in families with younger children, who are unable to verbalize what is happening to them or identify their symptoms. Precisely, knowing the most important aspects of these episodes and knowing how to act is behind the conference 'Everything you need to know about hypoglycemia', organized this Thursday in the Aragonese capital by the hospital center in collaboration with the ADE Zaragoza Diabetic Association and the pharmaceutical company Lilly and aimed at family members, children, adolescents and caregivers.
This autoimmune disease can debut from 11 months ("many breastfeeding children have to be treated with an insulin pump," says the doctor) until 30-40 years of age. In the case of Rocío Montón's daughter, type 1 diabetes appeared at age 6. "This disease makes your life change, you live day and night on alert," says this mother, who fortunately has not suffered situations of severe hypoglycemia with her teenage daughter (she is now 15 years old) due to her constant being on alarm. .
Montón appreciates the celebration of this type of conference and recognizes the "important" jump that has been given with the glucose motorization system. "These types of joint bets are very good. With the help of Miguel Servet and the ADE Patients Association, it is intended that our quality of life improves and that our children know how to deal with hypoglycemia when parents are not present. In addition, we thank the laboratories that make these presentations because they learn with us; we want technology and medication to advance faster"says Rocío, who highlights that her daughter has had a "very good" evolution.
"They can be avoided"
For her part, the doctor Marta Ferrer maintains that hypoglycemia can be avoided by adequate insulin doses for exercise and by increasing carbohydrate intake in risk situations. "That's why everything about diabetes education is important. The more the family and the child know about their diabetes, the better quality of life they will have.; not only about food and physical exercise but about how to avoid hypoglycemic situations. In people with this disease, it is recommended to rationalize carbohydrates, avoiding those that are rapidly absorbed, which would be reserved for cases of low glucose levels," he highlights.
Although there are many symptom of hypoglycemia, Elisa Civitani, diabetes nurse educator, explains that in children they are usually stomach pain, hunger, nervousness, shaking of the hands or legs, irritability, tachycardia or headaches. "They are the ones we should learn to recognize and try immediately because if not they will go further and there may be an alteration in speech, aggressive behavior, a loss of consciousness and even seizures," warns this health worker, who points out that in the case of seizures (rare) families have to learn to treat them through glucagon. "It is an injection and since the beginning of the year it has been released intranasally, as a single-dose spray that is much simpler," he details.
Civitani remembers that when a minor starts with diabetes they have a school record that they take to school and in which their situation is recorded. Likewise, twice a year they do sessions with teachers to teach them how to act in an emergency situation "and give them confidence." "We have an agreement with Education; it is about the child being integrated into their daily life with maximum safety and normality," she says.
How to act
The diabetes nurse educator gives a series of guidelines in the event of hypoglycemia:
- Check blood glucose with a glucometer. If the figure is below 70 or the child has symptoms, we must begin to act. "They should take glucose in any format: pills, liquid or even white table sugar. In children we recommend about 5 grams, but that amount must be individualized for each case."
- Fifteen minutes of rest. Once they have ingested glucose, they should wait at least that amount of time and measure capillary glucose again to see the effect of this rapidly absorbed carbohydrate. "From the time it is taken until it reaches the stomach and passes back into the blood, approximately 10-15 minutes pass. That is why it is so important to wait and check again. If I take too much, the rebound is that we have exceeded the limits. blood glucose levels and we have hyperglycemia. It is about correcting it with balance", indicates.
- Slow absorption carbohydrates. If after 15 minutes the child is already in a target range, she would have to eat some fruit, bread, milk or cereal, among other slow carbohydrates, to maintain blood glucose levels. And if it has not been resolved in that time, the steps should be repeated as many times as necessary. "Take a small amount of glucose and wait another 15 minutes to check capillary blood glucose again."
For Elisa Civitani, it is "very important" prevention all with be able to identify risk situations (going for many hours without taking anything or making a mistake in the insulin dose or in adolescents doing intense and prolonged physical activity without control or drinking alcohol) in order to act as soon as possible if the first symptoms occur and that they do not go away. further. "It must be done always seeking balance to not cause rebounds that produce hyperglycemia, which also has its complications," he concludes.
