Question: Could you please explain what causes low blood sugar, the symptoms and the treatment?
Low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) is caused by an inadequate intake of carbohydrate foods (ie. starvation), excess use of drugs used to treat diabetes, alcoholism and by a very rare tumour that secretes excess insulin.
Sugars are the fuel of the body, and ate chemically ‘burned’ to provide the energy necessary for us to function. There are many different types of sugar in our diet, including sucrose (the white stuff we sprinkle on our cereal), glucose, fructose (fruit sugar) and lactose (milk sugar).
Starvation is rare in Australia, and so there are very few people who suffer from true hypoglycemia. There are people who lead a very active lifestyle who burn up their body sugar rapidly, and who therefore feel much better shortly after taking sugar containing foods. Rest usually gives the same result, but mote slowly, as reserves of sugars are released by the liver into the bloodstream. This problem is far more common in women than men.
The symptoms of a transient episode of low blood sugar are tiredness, burred and double vision, headache, light headedness and personality changes.
True, prolonged hypoglycemia is very rare, and I have never encountered a patient with this problem in 25 years of general practice. Temporary symptoms of hypoglycemia after exercise or stress are common, and are not a reason for concern. If you feel that you suffer from this problem regularly, suck some barley sugar before exercise or at times of stress.

Question: Why do doctors keep worrying about my blood pressure. Is it really that important to keep it low?
Ariy plumber will tell you that if a pipe carries water at a pressure higher than the pressure it was designed for, it will eventually rupture. If the pressure in the pipe is not only to high but varies rapidly in its level, the rupture will occur even sooner because of the excessive stresses on the pipe.
Exactly the same situation occurs in the human body when the pressure of blood in the arteries becomes too high. The arteries of a person with high blood pressure will become hardened, brittle and eventually rupture, causing a stroke, heart attack or other serious injury to vital organs.
The majority of people with high blood pressure have no symptoms of the problem for many years, and by that time it may be too late. Once diagnosed, tests will be done to see if there is any specific cause for the increased blood pressure, but the majority of people have ‘essential’ hypertension, for which there is no single identifiable cause. Treatment is necessary in all cases of hypertension to prevent the serious long-term problems that may occur.
There is no cure for high blood pressure, but it can be very successfully controlled in the majority of patients by taking one or two tablets a day.