What Does a Low Hepatic Glucose Level Mean?

The liver is an extremely important organ. A three-pound processing center, the liver removes harmful toxins from your body and it regulates blood sugar, which is the main energy mechanism for the body. Low hepatic glucose, or low levels of blood sugar being processed by the liver, can result from many illnesses and conditions, including diabetes, gastric surgery, and long fasts. For diabetics, treating this condition requires close monitoring of their glucose levels and working out a plan with their doctors. For others, the condition can be treated with medicine, and in mild cases simply by eating some glucose-rich food.

Liver Functioning

• Chief among the liver's many functions is the regulation of glucose in the bloodstream. The liver has many methods and signals that tell it to process more or less glucose. It turns glucose into glycogen, which is how the body, and brain, derive energy. Too much glucose in the blood and too little can have serious consequences. People with conditions such as diabetes may have impaired internal controls that lead to the liver's processing too little glucose. Others may simply not be supplying their bodies with enough glucose in the first place. Low glucose processing in the liver typically results in hypoglycemia.

Low Hepatic Glucose and Diabetes

• If you suffer from low hepatic glucose, your liver works together with your kidneys to create glucose. However, this recovery function might not work properly in people with diabetes. The mechanism that is triggered by low hepatic glucose is impaired by insulin, a medicine used to treat diabetes. The outward signs that a diabetic may be experiencing impaired glucose processing are mental fog, wooziness, jittery, racing heart rate and weakness.

Low Hepatic Glucose and Fasting

• Non-diabetic people who fast may experience low hepatic glucose as well as the hallmark hypoglycemia related to it. Symptoms they will experience include hunger, sweating, light-headedness, drowsiness and confusion. It is important to note that a healthy night's sleep is considered a fast, and that extreme sports can produce a fast-like effect on the body, but concern is warranted when glucose levels dip below 50 milligrams per deciliter. This drop may occur in those who undertake extended fasts.

Low Hepatic Glucose and Other Causes

• In addition to the insulin taken by diabetics and the conditions produced by fasting, medications to treat other health conditions are a common cause of problems with the liver's processing of blood sugar. Those known to produce these problems include salicylates, or aspirin, when taken in large doses; medications for bacterial infections; pentamidine, a pneumonia treatment; and an anti-malaria drug called quinine. In addition to medications, other illnesses that affect the liver can cause low hepatic glucose. Also, high alcohol intake, hormonal issues, and tumors are known to produce this effect.

Other Serious Consequences

• There are numerous side effects of hypoglycemia caused by low hepatic glucose. When the body, including all its organs, such as the kidneys, pancreas, and most significantly, the brain, is starved of its main energy source, those organs' cells begin to get damaged. They also start to malfunction, and they can fail. Preventing low hepatic glucose for non-diabetics is usually as simple as maintaining a healthy diet and eating at intervals so as to avoid starving the body of energy. For insulin-dependent diabetics, following the prescribed meal plan is critical, as are limiting alcohol intake and regularly monitoring blood sugar.

Quick Treatment of Hypoglycemia

• According to the National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse, if you suffer from hypoglycemia---the most common signal of low hepatic glucose---you can quickly treat it by taking glucose tablets, drinking a half-cup of fruit juice or soft drink or a cup of milk, or eating some hard candy or a tablespoon of honey or sugar.