Quote:
Originally posted by Tyrone_Slothrop
A Red Sox coach had a diabetes-related seizure on the field yesterday.
(from espn.com)
My question is, how did they know that he was suffering from not enough sugar, and not too much? I thought I'd been told that you don't necessarily know which it is, and that you could be doing harm from giving someone sugar in this sort of situation.
|
Diabetics, except the most fragile of us, seldom just pass out from an excess of sugar. A "diabetic coma" brought about by hyperglycemia, or an excess of sugar, is far more rare than passing out due to hypoglycemia, or not enough blood sugar. A quick jolt of sugar would have been enough to prompt a positive response to hypoglycemia, while it wouldn't have had any measurable effect on someone suffering from hyperglycemia.
Also, convulsions and rapid onset are far more indicative of hypoglycemia than diabetic ketoacidosis, which tends to be characterized by slower onset and more prolonged less severe symptoms.
