Question

Metabolism in an Alcoholic Patient by Anneke M. Metz, Medical/Dental Education Preparatory Program (MEDPREP), Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, Carbondale, IL A Tragic Finding: Part 1 - Hypoglycemia A 50-year old Asian woman was found breathing but unresponsive in her home. According to family members who called emergency services, she had been drinking alcohol continuously for two days. The patient had a history of chronic alcoholism and hepatitis-C. A fingerstick glucose test done by the paramedic returned a value of < 20 mg/dL, indicating severe hypoglycemia. Come up with hypotheses about what caused the hypoglycemia. The questions below are designed to guide you in developing your hypotheses. You may need to seek additional resources to explore the questions below. Some reliable online resources for medical tests and conditions include WebMD.com, CDC.gov, and MayoClinic.org. Questions 1. What is the normal range for blood serum glucose? 2. What symptoms might you expect to see at levels above, and below, the normal values for blood serum glucose? (It may be useful to consider consequences of acute changes in glucose levels for the patient, and also the longterm effects of chronically high or low glucose.) 3. What metabolic mechanisms are normally at work to keep blood glucose levels within the normal range? 4. What are the symptoms and consequences of the patient's chronic conditions of hepatitis C and alcoholism? 5. What conditions in the patient may have altered her normal glucose metabolism?

Answer 1

1)If you had a fasting blood glucose test, a level between 70 and 100 mg/dL (3.9 and 5.6 mmol/L) is considered normal.

If you had a random blood glucose test, a normal result depends on when you last ate. Most of the time, the blood glucose level will be 125 mg/dL (6.9 mmol/L) or lower

2) About High Blood Sugar (Hyperglycemia)

Common signs of high blood sugar include frequent urination, fatigue, dry or itchy skin, feeling thirsty, more frequent infections

About Low Blood Sugar (Hypoglycemia)

When your blood sugar drops rapidly, or when the reading is 70 mg/dL or below if you take medications for diabetes, you may experience symptoms of low blood sugar such as shaking, sweating, rapid heartbeat, headache, hunger, weakness, fatigue, impaired vision, anxiety, irritability, and dizziness.

3)Glucoregulation is the maintenance of steady levels of glucose in the body by carbohydrates metabolisms.

4) Hepatitis c symptoms

Long-term infection with the hepatitis C virus is known as chronic hepatitis C. Chronic hepatitis C is usually a "silent" infection for many years, until the virus damages the liver enough to cause the signs and symptoms of liver disease.

Signs and symptoms include:

• Bleeding easily
• Bruising easily
• Fatigue
• Poor appetite
• Yellow discoloration of the skin and eyes (jaundice)
• Dark-colored urine
• Itchy skin
• Fluid buildup in your abdomen (ascites)
• Swelling in your legs
• Weight loss
• Confusion, drowsiness and slurred speech (hepatic encephalopathy)
• Spiderlike blood vessels on your skin

Alcoholism Symptoms

• The most common sign of alcoholic hepatitis is yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes (jaundice).

  Other signs and symptoms include:

• Loss of appetite
• Nausea and vomiting
• Abdominal tenderness
• Fever, often low grade

5) glucose metabolisms changes, during when the amount of sugar in the body lowered or highered.