Causes of Hypoglycemia in Pregnant Women

Written by Du Rui Xia
Obstetrics
Updated on August 31, 2024
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Hypoglycemia is a relatively common clinical phenomenon in pregnant women during pregnancy, mainly manifesting as dizziness, blurred vision, and even fainting. This occurs because the metabolism of pregnant women accelerates during pregnancy, while the secretion of the islets is not correspondingly increased. This results in the physiological function of the islets being very active, which can easily lead to low blood sugar in expectant mothers, causing symptoms such as dizziness and fatigue due to hypoglycemia. Additionally, hormonal changes during pregnancy can lead to decreased appetite, nausea, vomiting, irregular eating habits, and malnutrition in pregnant women. Despite this, energy consumption still occurs, which can also lead to hypoglycemia.

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Written by Li Lang Bo
Endocrinology
1min 6sec home-news-image

Can people with hypoglycemia eat beef?

Whether or not patients with hypoglycemia can eat beef really depends on the specific situation. Hypoglycemia varies in severity from mild, moderate, to severe. If you're just experiencing slight low blood sugar with some hunger and mild sweating, without any mental or physical impairments, then eating some beef shouldn't be a problem and it can indeed help raise your blood sugar. However, if you are experiencing moderate or severe hypoglycemia, characterized by heavy sweating, dizziness, and especially changes in consciousness, then it is not recommended to eat beef because its digestion and absorption are slow. In such cases, it is advised to quickly drink sugary water, and if necessary, administer sugar water intravenously to swiftly increase the blood sugar levels and alleviate symptoms of hypoglycemia. Since beef is a protein, it digests slowly and therefore causes a slower rise in blood sugar.

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Written by Li Lang Bo
Endocrinology
1min 8sec home-news-image

Hypoglycemia is caused by what?

Hypoglycemia is most commonly seen in patients with type 2 diabetes. During the treatment of diabetes, hypoglycemia can occur due to excessive use of medication or insulin, failure to eat on time after exercise, or decreased appetite without appropriately reducing the medication. Another common cause is insulinoma, a type of tumor that secretes excessive insulin, resulting in lowered blood glucose levels. A third cause relates to the early stage of type 2 diabetes, where insulin resistance and delayed insulin peak times often lead to pre-meal hypoglycemia, especially before lunch and dinner. Lastly, hypoglycemia is also commonly observed in some young women with specific coloring, potentially due to gastrointestinal motility issues or other reasons leading to pre-meal hypoglycemia. It is also common in patients with hepatitis or cirrhosis, where the liver's ability to output glucose is diminished, increasing the risk of hypoglycemia when fasting.

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Written by Li Hui Zhi
Endocrinology
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What are the symptoms of hypoglycemia?

Hypoglycemia, in fact, is diagnosed in healthy individuals when blood glucose levels are less than or equal to 2.8 mmol/L, and in diabetic patients when levels are less than or equal to 3.9 mmol/L. Common symptoms of mild hypoglycemia typically involve sympathetic nervous system activation, such as dizziness, palpitations, cold sweats, trembling hands, and a feeling of hunger. It is recommended that food be consumed promptly when these symptoms occur. If hypoglycemia is not immediately addressed, severe outcomes can occur, including altered mental status, coma, and unresponsiveness. In some cases, hypoglycemia may trigger seizures or abnormal cerebral vascular accidents, such as stroke or cardiac ischemia, leading to a heart attack. Therefore, preventing hypoglycemia is of utmost importance.

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Written by Chen Xie
Endocrinology
1min 8sec home-news-image

What is hypoglycemia?

Hypoglycemia is a condition characterized by abnormally low plasma glucose levels, caused by various etiologies, and clinically presents as a syndrome mainly featuring sympathetic nervous excitement and brain cell glucose deficiency. For healthy individuals, hypoglycemia is diagnosed when blood glucose levels fall below 2.8 mmol/L. For diabetic patients, hypoglycemia is diagnosed when blood glucose levels are below 3.8 mmol/L. Hypoglycemia can be categorized into fasting hypoglycemia and postprandial hypoglycemia based on its causes. Common symptoms of hypoglycemia include palpitations, fatigue, trembling hands, accelerated heart rate, sweating, mental distraction, dizziness, drowsiness, unstable gait, irritability, and even odd behaviors. In severe cases, it can lead to coma or even death.

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Written by Li Lang Bo
Endocrinology
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Can people with hypoglycemia run?

The treatment of hypoglycemia primarily involves identifying its causes, whether due to an excessive use of medication by diabetic patients, not eating meals on time, or other reasons such as an insulinoma or other causes. In these cases, treatment should focus on the underlying causes. Or, if the hypoglycemia is simply due to not eating regularly, consider if symptoms such as frequent palpitations and easy sweating are present. If you must go running, it is advised to first correct the hypoglycemia by consuming some food to raise the blood sugar. Additionally, during the run, always carry some food with you. If symptoms of low blood sugar occur, you should eat immediately, as running can consume the glucose in the blood and lower blood sugar levels. If you do not eat on time to increase your blood sugar, it might induce severe hypoglycemia. Therefore, it is recommended to correct the blood sugar level before running, and make sure to carry food with you while running.