Blood Sugar Can Be Too Low in Post-Polio Diabetics

A Bruno Byte
From Richard L. Bruno, HD, PhD
Director, International Centre for Polio Education

In 2000, we measured polio survivors’ blood sugar and gave them the same tests of attention and memory that we’d been using to study polio survivors with fatigue. We found that the lower polio survivors’ blood sugar was, the worse they did on the most difficult attention tests. Attention was about 20% BELOW normal for those whose blood sugars were around 80, which is the bottom of the normal range for blood sugar. In fact, polio survivors’ ability to pay attention with a blood sugar of 80 was actually WORSE THAN IN DIABETICS with a blood sugar of 65!

In terms of focusing attention polio survivors’ brains act as if they are hypoglycemic, with blood sugar levels in their brains about 15 points LOWER than the measurement from their doctors' lab.

This NY TIMES article, “When Diabetes Treatment Goes Too Far” shows the danger of one-size-fits- all treating of older diabetics that can cause hypoglycemia, brain brownouts, accidents and even death. How much more should this warning apply to diabetic polio survivors whose brain may already be hypoglycemic!

Talk to your doctor about allowing your sugars to run higher.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/12/opinion/when-diabetes-treatment-goes-too-far.html?_r=0