Why can high blood sugar also cause coma?

Mondo Health Updated on 2024-02-22

In life, many people know that low blood sugar can cause coma, so diabetic patients who use insulin for ** strictly abide by the principle of "eating after injection" to prevent the occurrence of hypoglycemia. But few people know that high blood sugar can also cause coma.

As early as 1886, there were reports in the medical literature about hyperglycemia causing coma in diabetic patients. It was not until 1957 that a South African doctor, Sement, made a special report on this phenomenon and received widespread attention from the medical community, naming the situation "hyperosmolar non-ketotic diabetic coma" in order to distinguish it from the coma caused by diabetic ketoacidosis. Recent studies have shown that hyperosmolar nonketotic diabetic coma is a serious complication of a specific type of diabetes.

Clinically, the mortality rate of patients with hyperosmolar nonketotic diabetic coma is as high as about 20%. The disease is more common in middle-aged and elderly patients with diabetes, and can affect both men and women. Some people with this condition do not know they have diabetes before they become ill. Diabetic patients usually have symptoms such as thirst, polyuria, fatigue, unresponsiveness, and apathy before the development of hyperosmolar nonketotic diabetic coma. At this time, if such a patient does not get a reasonable **, he will have persistent dry mouth and polyuria, and even dehydration symptoms, such as eye socket collapse, loss of elasticity, rapid heartbeat, impaired consciousness, blood pressure drop, etc., and can gradually enter a coma.

Generally speaking, diabetic patients should immediately go to the hospital for relevant laboratory tests to prevent hyperosmolar non-ketotic diabetic coma when they have the following conditions: When there is a gradual progression of consciousness impairment and symptoms such as dry mouth, polyuria, and dryness; when epileptiform convulsions are present; When diabetic patients have symptoms of polyuria and dehydration when they have pneumonia, colds, cerebrovascular accidents, trauma and other diseases; When symptoms of polyuria and altered consciousness occur after consuming large amounts of sugar or carbohydrates; If you have severe symptoms such as vomiting and diarrhea.

The key to the prognosis of patients with hyperosmolar nonketotic diabetic coma is whether they can be diagnosed in a timely manner and carried out reasonably**. For middle-aged and elderly diabetic patients, it is necessary to pay attention to their mental state at any time, and to do blood sugar tests regularly for them, and not let them consume a lot of carbohydrates (including rice, flour) or sweets. Once a diabetic patient has a coma, he should be sent to the hospital for treatment in time, and should not be fed sugar water or intravenous hypertonic glucose to such a patient at will, so as not to worsen the condition.

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