Hypoglycemia for Dummies (ISBN - 047012170X)

290 Pages·2021·3.07 MB·English

Hypoglycemia

FOR

DUMmIES

‰

2ND EDITION

by Cheryl Chow

Writer and editor

by James Chow,MD

Practicing physician

01_121702 ffirs.qxp 2/15/07 7:48 PM Page i

01_121702 ffirs.qxp 2/15/07 7:48 PM Page iii

Hypoglycemia

FOR

DUMmIES

‰

2ND EDITION

by Cheryl Chow

Writer and editor

by James Chow,MD

Practicing physician

01_121702 ffirs.qxp 2/15/07 7:48 PM Page i

Hypoglycemia For Dummies®, 2nd Edition
Published by
Wiley Publishing, Inc.
111 River St.
Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774
www.wiley.com

Copyright © 2007 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published simultaneously in Canada

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or
by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permit-
ted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written
permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the
Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400, fax [phone].
Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Legal Department, Wiley Publishing,
Inc., 10475 Crosspoint Blvd., Indianapolis, IN 46256, 317-572-3447, fax [phone], or online at http://
www.wiley.com/go/permissions.

Trademarks: Wiley, the Wiley Publishing logo, For Dummies, the Dummies Man logo, A Reference for the
Rest of Us!, The Dummies Way, Dummies Daily, The Fun and Easy Way, Dummies.com and related trade
dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United
States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. All other trademarks are the
property of their respective owners. Wiley Publishing, Inc., is not associated with any product or vendor
mentioned in this book.

LIMIT OF LIABILITY/DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY: THE CONTENTS OF THIS WORK ARE INTENDED
TO FURTHER GENERAL SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH, UNDERSTANDING, AND DISCUSSION ONLY AND ARE
NOT INTENDED AND SHOULD NOT BE RELIED UPON AS RECOMMENDING OR PROMOTING A SPE-
CIFIC METHOD, DIAGNOSIS, OR TREATMENT BY PHYSICIANS FOR ANY PARTICULAR PATIENT. THE
PUBLISHER AND THE AUTHOR MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES WITH RESPECT TO
THE ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF THE CONTENTS OF THIS WORK AND SPECIFICALLY DIS-
CLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF FIT-
NESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. IN VIEW OF ONGOING RESEARCH, EQUIPMENT
MODIFICATIONS, CHANGES IN GOVERNMENTAL REGULATIONS, AND THE CONSTANT FLOW OF
INFORMATION RELATING TO THE USE OF MEDICINES, EQUIPMENT, AND DEVICES, THE READER IS
URGED TO REVIEW AND EVALUATE THE INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THE PACKAGE INSERT OR
INSTRUCTIONS FOR EACH MEDICINE, EQUIPMENT, OR DEVICE FOR, AMONG OTHER THINGS, ANY
CHANGES IN THE INSTRUCTIONS OR INDICATION OF USAGE AND FOR ADDED WARNINGS AND
PRECAUTIONS. READERS SHOULD CONSULT WITH A SPECIALIST WHERE APPROPRIATE. THE FACT
THAT AN ORGANIZATION OR WEBSITE IS REFERRED TO IN THIS WORK AS A CITATION AND/OR A
POTENTIAL SOURCE OF FURTHER INFORMATION DOES NOT MEAN THAT THE AUTHOR OR THE
PUBLISHER ENDORSES THE INFORMATION THE ORGANIZATION OR WEBSITE MAY PROVIDE OR
RECOMMENDATIONS IT MAY MAKE. FURTHER, READERS SHOULD BE AWARE THAT INTERNET
WEBSITES LISTED IN THIS WORK MAY HAVE CHANGED OR DISAPPEARED BETWEEN WHEN THIS
WORK WAS WRITTEN AND WHEN IT IS READ. NO WARRANTY MAY BE CREATED OR EXTENDED BY
ANY PROMOTIONAL STATEMENTS FOR THIS WORK. NEITHER THE PUBLISHER NOR THE AUTHOR
SHALL BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES ARISING HEREFROM.

For general information on our other products and services, please contact our Customer Care Department
within the U.S. at 800-762-2974, outside the U.S. at 317-572-3993, or fax [phone].

For technical support, please visit www.wiley.com/techsupport.

Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may
not be available in electronic books.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2007920018

ISBN: 978-0-470-12170-2

Manufactured in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

01_121702 ffirs.qxp 2/15/07 7:48 PM Page ii

About the Authors

Cheryl Chow has been a freelance writer, editor, and journalist for
more than 20 years, concentrating on health and social issues. She
has a diverse writing background, having written for magazines,
newspapers, webzines, and literary magazines. She and Dr. Chow
have coauthored a reference book on hepatitis and other liver
diseases.

Coming from a family with a long line of medical doctors, Chow has
always been fascinated by medicine and science. After obtaining a
BA in psychology from Reed College, she pursued her own studies
into the effects of mind over body, and vice versa. She has con-
quered her own bouts with hypoglycemia, fatigue, and other health
issues through attention to lifestyle and diet. She has studied T’ai
Chi, chi kung, ba gua, and meditation from some world-renowned
teachers, and has also taught T’ai Chi exercises for health.

James H. Chow, MD, is the founder, CEO, and medical director of
multispecialty clinics offering integrative medicine and diverse
treatment modalities located in New York, Westchester, Chicago,
Atlanta, and San Diego. Dr. Chow specializes in emergency and
family medicine. Before he went into private practice almost 20
years ago, he was the director of the emergency department at Mt.
Sinai Hospital in Chicago for seven years. As an emergency doctor
at one of the busiest hospitals in the U.S., he has encountered and
treated almost every imaginable type of illness and injury. Dr. Chow
is licensed to practice medicine in Illinois, Georgia, and New York.
In 1996, Dr. Chow helped set up an American-style clinic in Beijing.

Dr. Chow is a member of American Academy of Emergency Medicine,
American Academy of Physician Executives, American Academy of
Sports Medicine, American Academy of General Medicine, American
Academy of Family Practice, Nippon Industrial Medicine Association,
and American Japanese Physicians Association. Having too much
time on his hands, Dr. Chow is currently involved with various med-
ical projects. He’s known among his friends and associates for his
unbounded energy, personal warmth, and sense of humor — had
he not become a medical doctor, Dr. Chow could undoubtedly have
become a comedian.

01_121702 ffirs.qxp 2/15/07 7:48 PM Page iii

Dedication

We dedicate this book to our mother, who has inspired us with her
indomitable spirit. Late in life she became a published novelist and
essayist (with fan mail from all over the world). Always young at
heart, most of her friends are half her age.

This book is also dedicated to our father, without whose foresight
and financial support neither of us would have been blessed with
the education and career opportunities that we have had.

Authors’ Acknowledgments

I would like to thank everyone, especially the various healthcare
practitioners whose knowledge, expertise, and experience helped
shape this book. Thanks especially to Dr. Carolyn Dean, MD; Dr.
Colleen Huber, NMD; Raymond Hinish, PharmD, CN; Dr. Michael T.
Murray, ND; Dr. Iljong Kim, MD; and EFT founder Gary Craig for
giving up their valuable time to answer my numerous questions.
Dr. Huber in particular was more than generous in sharing her vast
knowledge.

Special thanks and much gratitude also to John Hartsell for his
expertise in wordsmithing and his critical eye for detail.

I would like to express my appreciation to my brother and coauthor,
Dr. James Chow, for his share of the work, and for his gift of a
MacBook, which was used in the writing of the manuscript. I also
want to thank the staff of the Nihon Clinic. And last, but certainly
not least, I want to thank my agent Elizabeth Frost-Knappman
of New England Publishing Associates, and the staff at Wiley
Publishing, in particular Michael Lewis, the acquisitions editor,
Chad Sievers, the project editor, and Sarah Faulkner, the copy
editor.

01_121702 ffirs.qxp 2/15/07 7:48 PM Page iv

Publisher’s Acknowledgments

We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments through our Dummies online regis-
tration form located at www.dummies.com/register/.

Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following:

Acquisitions, Editorial, and
Media Development

Project Editor: Chad R. Sievers
(Previous Edition: Tonya Maddox Cupp)
Acquisitions Editor: Michael Lewis
Copy Editor: Sarah Faulkner
(Previous Edition: Greg Pearson)
Technical Editor: Lorna Walker, PhD,

nutritionist for the Hypoglycemia
Support Foundation, Inc.

Editorial Manager: Michelle Hacker
Editorial Assistants: Erin Calligan Mooney,

Joe Niesen, Leeann Harney

Cartoons: Rich Tennant

(www.the5thwave.com)

Composition Services

Project Coordinator: Heather Kolter
Layout and Graphics: Carl Byers,

LeAndra Hosier, Stephanie D. Jumper,
Erin Zeltner

Anniversary Logo Design: Richard Pacifico
Proofreader: Aptara
Indexer: Aptara

Publishing and Editorial for Consumer Dummies

Diane Graves Steele, Vice President and Publisher, Consumer Dummies
Joyce Pepple, Acquisitions Director, Consumer Dummies
Kristin A. Cocks, Product Development Director, Consumer Dummies
Michael Spring, Vice President and Publisher, Travel
Kelly Regan, Editorial Director, Travel

Publishing for Technology Dummies

Andy Cummings, Vice President and Publisher, Dummies Technology/General User

Composition Services

Gerry Fahey, Vice President of Production Services
Debbie Stailey, Director of Composition Services

01_121702 ffirs.qxp 2/15/07 7:48 PM Page v

Contents at a Glance

Introduction.......................................................1

Part I: Addressing Your Ups and Downs:
Could This Be Hypoglycemia? .............................7

Chapter 1: Riding the Blood Sugar Roller Coaster Isn’t Any Fun .........9
Chapter 2: Digesting Hypoglycemia: Your Body’s Role .......................19
Chapter 3: Symptoms without a Cause .................................................31

Part II: Diagnosing and Treating
Your Hypoglycemia..........................................49

Chapter 4: Matching Up with the Right Doc .........................................51
Chapter 5: Getting the Lowdown on Low Blood Sugar........................69
Chapter 6: Gorging on Good Health.......................................................85
Chapter 7: Hanging with Herb and His Buddies

Vitamin and Supplement.................................................................111

Part III: Emulating Lifestyles
of the Well and Healthy .................................137

Chapter 8: Easing Symptoms and Energizing with Exercise.............139
Chapter 9: All Stressed Out and Nowhere to Go ................................155
Chapter 10: Defanging the Depression Demons .................................173
Chapter 11: Making It through Your Day at Work...............................189

Part IV:Spinning a Network of Support
for Yourself (and Others)...............................205

Chapter 12: Jockeying for Support.......................................................207
Chapter 13: Dealing with Friends and Family: Eat and Let Eat.........221
Chapter 14: Suffering Along with Your Sweetie? ................................235

Part V: The Part of Tens..................................245

Chapter 15: Ten Myths about Hypoglycemia......................................247
Chapter 16: Ten Hints for Helping Hypoglycemics ............................253

Index.............................................................263

02_121702 ftoc.qxp 2/15/07 7:59 PM Page vi

Table of Contents

Introduction .......................................................1

About This Book .........................................................................1
Conventions Used in This Book................................................2
What You’re Not to Read............................................................2
Icons Used in This Book.............................................................3
Foolish Assumptions ..................................................................3
How This Book Is Organized......................................................3

Part I: Addressing Your Ups and Downs:

Could This Be Hypoglycemia?.....................................4

Part II: Diagnosing and Treating Your Hypoglycemia.....4
Part III: Emulating Lifestyles of the Well and Healthy.....4
Part IV: Spinning a Network of Support

for Yourself (and Others).............................................4

Part V: The Part of Tens...................................................4

Where to Go from Here ..............................................................5

Part I: Addressing Your Ups and Downs:
Could This Be Hypoglycemia?..............................7

Chapter 1: Riding the Blood Sugar Roller Coaster

Isn’t Any Fun . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Defining Hypoglycemia ..............................................................9

Organic.............................................................................10
Relative ............................................................................10
Reactive ...........................................................................11

Like a Greased Pig: Easy to Define, Tough to Pin Down.......11

Identifying key symptoms .............................................13
Arriving at a diagnosis ...................................................13

Knowing Who’s Prone ..............................................................15

Prevailing problem: The pudge!....................................15
Like a couple of hooligans: Linking

hypoglycemia and diabetes.......................................16

Heading Toward Better Health................................................16

Chapter 2: Digesting Hypoglycemia:

Your Body’s Role. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Absorbing Some Physical Food...............................................19

Breaking down proteins.................................................20
Pancreas plays its part...................................................21
Insulin gone awry ...........................................................23

Tracing Cause and Effect .........................................................24

Multiple causes...............................................................24
Exhausting your adrenals..............................................25
Ravaging your health: The couch and the potato......26
Sugar, sugar, everywhere — except where

you need it...................................................................27

Addressing Addictions: The Link to Low Blood Sugar.........28

02_121702 ftoc.qxp 2/15/07 7:59 PM Page vii

Chapter 3: Symptoms without a Cause . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Jumping on Stage: No, You’re Not Faking It...........................31
Eying the Physical Symptoms .................................................32
Identifying the Emotional Symptoms .....................................33
Unmasking Hypoglycemia’s Hidden Faces ............................35

Reactions to food............................................................36
Overlapping syndromes.................................................39
Haggling with hypothyroidism......................................41
Joining the hypo bandwagon: Hypoadrenalism .........42

Hypoglycemia and Diabetes — Flip Sides

of the Same Coin?..................................................................43

Looking at the syndrome flowchart .............................43
Identifying the types of diabetes ..................................44

Nailing Down Hypoglycemia: Symptoms

throughout the Ages.............................................................46

Hypoglycemia and newborns........................................46
Hypoglycemia and children...........................................47
Hypoglycemia and pregnant women............................47
Hypoglycemia and menopausal women ......................48
Hypoglycemia and older people...................................48

Part II: Diagnosing and Treating
Your Hypoglycemia...........................................49

Chapter 4: Matching Up with the Right Doc . . . . . . . . . 51

Why Seeing a Doc on a Regular Basis Is Important..............51
Paging Dr. Perfection ................................................................52

Knowing what to look for in a doc................................53
Finding the right doc......................................................54
Dealing with doubters....................................................56

Choosing a Specialist................................................................56

Internists and family doctors........................................57
Endocrinologists.............................................................57

Preparing Shows You’re Caring (About Yourself).................58

What to take to your appointment...............................58
Following up after the appointment.............................61

Putting Some Ohhhhmm into It: Alternative Medicine........62

Defining your alternatives .............................................62
Considering your alternatives.......................................63
Working in tandem..........................................................65

Chapter 5: Getting the Lowdown

on Low Blood Sugar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Poking and Prodding Yourself.................................................69

Filling in the circles: A questionnaire...........................70
Eating by trial..................................................................72

Getting the 411 on Hypoglycemia Testing .............................73

The pros and cons of these tests..................................74
What to expect from the tests.......................................75
How your doc interprets the results............................78
Graphing your own results............................................80

Hypoglycemia For Dummies, 2nd Edition
viii

02_121702 ftoc.qxp 2/15/07 7:59 PM Page viii