Alison Odey

The term ‘hypoglycaemia’ means ‘under sweet blood’, and means that there is
lower than normal amount of sugar in the blood. This can result from over
secretion of insulin by the pancreas which can be an inherited condition, but
can also be caused by a poor diet that contains too much simple carbohydrates
such as sugars, alcohol, caffeine, soft drinks, white breads etc.

Insulin facilitates the transport of glucose from the blood into the cells and causes
glucose to be synthesised by the liver. If the pancreas (which produces insulin)
is not working properly then normal carbohydrate metabolism is not possible,
glucose is not synthesised and the blood sugar levels drop.

As blood sugar levels drop stress hormones such as adrenalin and cortisol are released to
prevent the blood sugar dropping too dramatically. This can cause symptoms such
as shakiness, anxiety, moodiness, nervousness, palpitations, sweating,
clamminess, dilated pupils, dizziness, confusion, in-coordination, fatigue,
blurred vision, headaches etc.

Refer to page on  ‘Blood sugars’ for further discussion and treatments.