Dr. Purna Patel

Hypoglycemia is a condition that is associated with a lower amount of glucose in the body. Since glucose is the main source of energy in the body, it creates quite a few complications in the body. In a majority of the cases, this condition is associated with diabetes. Hypoglycemia, like fever, is not a disease but a disease indicator. A quick fix to keep hypoglycemia under check is to ensure that a patient intakes high-sugar food. A long-term fix involves a doctor treating a patient for the root cause.

What are the common symptoms?

The body needs a constant supply of glucose to carry out the daily function. In a case of short supply, it presents with the following symptoms:

• Frequent heart palpitations
• Fatigue
• Irritability
• Shakiness
• Pale skin
• Sweating

As the condition worsens, the symptoms can aggravate to the following conditions:

• Frequent seizures b. Inability to complete daily work due to confusion
• Sudden loss of consciousness
• Problems related to vision such as blurred vision

People with an acute hypoglycemia can get a feeling of intoxication at times. Words get slurred while they talk.

What are the causes?

Glucose is one of the many sugar molecules that the body produces when it digests food. Glucose is one such sugar component and is the driver of energy. There are 2 reasons of diabetes. If the pancreas can’t produce enough insulin or the body is incapable of responding to the insulin. This results in a logjam of glucose in the body. To address the problem, intake of insulin is required. Too much of insulin intake can result in hypoglycemia. The latter can also befall if an adequate amount of food is not consumed while going through a medicine course of diabetes. Even too much of working out while consuming diabetic medicine can also result in hypoglycemia.

Other probable causes:

1. Alcohol consumption- A regular drinker who eats less runs a heavy risk of suffering from hypoglycemia. This blocks the liver and the latter can refrain from releasing glucose.
2. Critical illness- Hypoglycemia may occur from certain critical illnesses such as liver illness, kidney disorder, frequent starvation etc.
3. Overproduction of the insulin- A tumour of the pancreas known as the insulinoma causes the body over-produce insulin.
4. Hormonal deficiencies- Disorders related to the pituitary gland and adrenal gland runs a serious risk of suffering of hypoglycemia due to hormonal deficiencies.

What are the complications?

Some of the common complications of this conditions include loss of consciousness, seizures and at times even death. Frequent episodes of hypoglycemia can make a person go numb and speechless.

Diagnosis:

A doctor typically asks a patient to go for a fast of 12 hours in a hospital setting and then test the glucose level in the blood. It ensures that the body exhibits the correct symptoms of hypoglycemia. The doctor analyses the blood sample report and decides whether a person has this condition. The last and the final confirmation comes when the symptoms of hypoglycemia go away as soon as the blood sugar levels are increased.

Prevention:

In the case of a diabetic patient, it is necessary to ensure that a constant evaluation of the blood sugar level happens from time to time. Eating and medicine schedules need to be adhered to. Exercise too is important. All this needs to be done in consultation with the doctor.

Haematuria refers to a medical condition where blood is passed out with urine. Blood can ooze out in tiny droplets or in large volume, often causing discomfort and pain.

Urine mostly has a reddish hue when you have this condition, and can be colored anything ranging from pink to a darkish brown. While in many cases this disease may be caused by trivial underlying issues, there may be major complications at work too. Hence, you should consult a doctor right away if you locate any symptoms such as abdominal pain, frequent urination, etc.

Causes of haematuria

Haematuria may be caused by factors both minor and severe. These include-

Urinary tract infection (UTI) - UTI is caused when foreign bodies like viruses or bacteria get accumulated in the urinary tract. This causes haematuria, as the kidneys may be affected leading to leakage of red blood cells into the urine.

Cancer - There are various types of cancer that may cause blood to come through the urine. These include prostate, renal and bladder cancer. This is a symptom visible during advanced stages of the cancers when treatment becomes difficult.

Kidney or gallbladder stones - This is another type of serious ailment that may cause haematuria as a symptom. The key difference from the other causal factors of haematuria is that in this case bleeding is very painful.

Traumatic injury to kidneys - A sharp hit or blunt attack to the kidneys you may sustain while falling down or a vehicle crash may cause internal injuries in the kidney and make blood show up in your urine.

Treating haematuria: What are the different approaches?

To treat haematuria, most doctors generally treat the underlying disease that is causing it as a symptom. The treatment entails-

Several types of anti-bacterial or antifungal agents are used to treat urinary tract infections. These medicines can both be prescribed by a doctor or bought over the counter.

Kidney and bladder stones may heal if you drink a lot of water. However, in very severe cases, you may need a surgical procedure called lithotripsy. Lithotripsy involves using ultrasound shock waves that break kidney stones into tiny particles and passes them out of your body.

For cancers, the extent of spread determines the treatment course recommendable. In general, chemotherapy, radiation therapy and surgery are the treatment modes used.

When the traumatic injury is the underlying factor, drugs or bandages may help, but you should also not ignore large injuries. In such cases, surgery may be required to set things right.

Haematuria is the medical name for the condition in which either small or large amounts of blood become visible in your urine. While this condition may be developing in you due to a number of reasons that may be minor, you should get yourself checked anyway.

Recurrent pregnancy loss refers to the situation when three consecutive pregnancy loss takes place. A pregnancy loss is a clinically defined pregnancy which ends before twenty weeks.

Causes of recurrent pregnancy loss

1. Major cases of pregnancy loss occur due to genetic abnormalities and chromosomal abnormalities. The abnormality may occur from the sperm, egg or the early developed embryo.
2. Recurrent pregnancy loss may occur in a woman due to ascending maternal age. This happens because of poor quality of the egg, which further leads to chromosomal abnormalities. In some cases, the pregnant mother or the father can have some gene irregularities. In such cases, the would-be-born infant is affected, and this causes pregnancy loss or miscarriage.
3. Uterus abnormalities also lead to recurrent pregnancy loss. This may happen because of poor supply of blood to the uterus. Abnormalities in the uterus are in-born in some women and in others these may develop over time.
4. Women having a poor immune system are likely to suffer pregnancy loss. Abnormalities in hormone secretion like thyroid or diabetes may also cause pregnancy loss in women.
5. If a woman suffers from abnormalities in blood clotting, the chances of miscarriage are enhanced.

Testing for recurrent pregnancy loss
Several tests and examinations should be carried out for detection of pregnancy loss. 

1. Karyotype analysis of the woman and her male partner has to be conducted. Karyotype refers to the genetic or chromosomal constituents of an individual and this test is carried out to detect abnormalities in genes and chromosomes of the parents, which cause miscarriage when passed on to the developing infant.
2. Another test includes the evaluation of the uterus and the uterine cavity. This is done by ultrasound, saline ultrasound, MRI, hysterosalpingogram X –ray or by hysteroscopy. These tests help to get information on the uterus shape, about fibroid presence, detect abnormalities within the uterus and observe the opening and closing of the tubes. Tests to detect the functioning of hormones are also carried out.

Treatment
The treatment for women with recurrent pregnancy loss depends upon the underlying causes of the pregnancy loss.

1. In case of patients with karyotypic abnormalities, genetic counselling is recommended, where a specialist is consulted to know about chromosomal abnormalities.
2. Prenatal genetic studies are carried out by some couples to know about the offspring’s genetic make-up. This is done with chorionic villus sampling or with amniocentesis. A process known as in vitro fertilization can be carried out.
3. In case of uterine abnormalities, a surgery may be performed and medications for reducing blood clot are used if anti-phospho-lipid antibody syndrome is detected.

Recurrent pregnancy loss may happen due to various reasons and proper tests, and treatment procedures should be carried out for curing pregnancy loss. This phenomenon affects a woman and her partner deeply.