[Info] Hypoglycemia

[RobinN]

Seizures are known manifestation of hypoglycemia. In patients with epilepsy, hypoglycemia might decrease the threshold for seizure development. In one study of 92 patients with epilepsy, 56.4% were found to have a subnormal fasting blood glucose concentration.

In addition, transient EEG abnormalities have been observed in some patients during a glucose tolerance test. These abnormalities occurred, not when the blood glucose level was at its lowest point, but at a time that insulin levels would have been expected to be elevated. These EEG changes werre hypothesized to result from insulin-induced transport of water and electrolytes into the brain, leading to cerebral hyperosmolality. While the observed EEG changes were not necessarily of the type associated with seizures, these finding raise the possibility that hyperinsulinemia could trigger seizures in patients with epilepsy.

Thus, hypoglycemia and hyperinsulinemia might each contribute to the pathogenesis of epilepsy in some cases. Patients with epilepsy who have evidence of these abnormalities might benefit from nutritional interventions, such as avoiding refined sugar, caffeine, and alcohol; eating frequently; consuming adequate amounts of protein, and supplementing with chromium, other trace minerals, magnesium, and B vitamins.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FDN/is_1_12/ai_n19170695/

 

[Meetz1064]

Hey there

Robin, I have a question.

When doing these glucose tolerance tests, to decide if they're the cause of seizures, shouldn't they be done at the same time that an EEG is being done, or am I out of line in my thinking? I would think that that would be a smart thing to do..

 

[RobinN]

I guess that is another request that you could make.

My thinking is, there is a type of low blood sugar that is called reactive hypoglycemia. You can have a reaction to quite a number of things I would think, and boom your blood sugar drops. I also think that it is an accumulation of things.

In Rebecca's case, there is a direct connection with her hormones too. What I have learned is that when the body dumps in additional insulin for a number of reasons, diet, stress, emotional reasons, and intense exercise, it can't always handle the excess of insulin, and that insulin goes back into the blood stream and I think somehow gets converted to estrogen. I am not sure if this is exactly the process, but there is a relationship between them. So we not only have estrogen dominance, lower progesterone, and blood sugar that is out of wack... boom

So unless you can create the same exact scenario in the EEG chair, I am not so sure you would necessarily pick it up. However, what if you do, what does that change. So you know that brain activity is changed, but seizure due to hypoglycemia aren't necessarily causing abnormal brain activity. In some research they do not call it epilepsy. Yet I hold the definitition of two seizures to cause confusion here.

I think I rambled a bit there...

 

[Meetz1064]

Yes, but

if you could do it while hooked up to a portable (ambulatory) EEG, it would be possible to figure this out....at least I think it would. Makes sense to me.