The Link Between Diabetes and Strokes

Those with diabetes know how serious it is to maintain their diabetes and keep their sugar under control. Keeping blood sugar under control is relevant to having strokes and seizures, and the older one gets the more likely they are to have fluctuations in the blood sugar.

Just recently my father-in-law had an episode as a result of not eating, and not taking his insulin. When he did eat, he was eating cookies, candy and high carb meals along with drinking beer. Drinking beer is one of the worst things that a diabetic can do, and drinking it in excess can cause the blood sugar to spike. When he arrived home, his neighbor stuck around for about an hour only to find that my father-in-law went into seizures and had him rushed to the hospital. When he arrived, his blood sugar was 668 registering well above what the monitors could read in the emergency room. This was an extremely dangerous level, which could have caused him to go into a stroke and even a coma. In addition, because he was dehydrated from not drinking enough water, he suffered some kidney damage and some muscle damage which thankfully was quickly reversed through strong medications and hydration.

The following morning, my husband and I arrived at the hospital and spoke with doctors about his condition and tried to fill in the gaps of what they didn't know about his medical history. His speech was clear, but he was having trouble with "word finding". This was something new for him, and we made a discovery; he had a stroke.

The doctors informed us that high blood sugar can induce seizures, and it can induce a stroke. The blood sugar has to be pretty high in order for that to happen, and being at 668 it was certainly high enough. According to Dr. Lewis Kuller, in his book Stroke and Diabetes, he talks about stroke death rates declining over the past 20 years in the United States. He also mentions that while death from strokes has decreased over the past 40-50 years, it is not clear as to whether this occurred as a result of pharmacological or non-pharmacological reasons. He also mentions that clinical trials will hopefully answer that question for the medical community.

Sadly, in our family's situation the course of treatment was nothing more than instruction to take insulin properly along with a good diet, plus getting his discharge papers. I find it disturbing that nothing more was done in this case. While he was medicated at the hospital and given the proper IV fluids, it was beyond our comprehension that there was no interaction with a social worker in terms of suggested managed care, or in home care. We were simply told, "there is nothing more we can do, and good luck".

If your loved one is struggling with managing their blood sugar and has suffered from a stroke, ask the doctor pointed questions and don't walk away until you get answers. Ask to talk to the doctor overseeing their case, and not the resident. Although some resident physicians are very knowledgeable and work very hard to learn their field, they won't have the experience necessary to mandate what needs to follow.

Lewis Kuller M.D.
Stroke and Diabetes
http://diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/dm/pubs/america/pdf