Sugar could save children with malaria

Children suffering from hypoglycaemia as a result of malaria infection could be cured with something as simple as a spoonful of sugar.

This is according to new research conducted by French doctor Hubert Barennes, who worked with malaria patients throughout sub-Saharan African for some 15 years and is currently stationed at the Francophone Institute of Tropical Medicine in Laos, reports AFP.

Dr Barennes told the agency he had seen the sudden effects of sugar loss and felt that a small dose could at least alleviate symptoms, yet had been unable to establish this with reliable evidence.

Undeterred, the doctor began a trial in Mali in 2006 which observed the life-saving effect that a spoonful of moistened sugar placed under the tongue could have.

"The benefits of sugar treatment might extend beyond malaria to other conditions that provoke a potentially lethal drop in blood sugar, such as malnutrition and poisoning," the doctor said.

"There is a good chance that sugar under the tongue would work as quickly with adults too. We will need another study to verify that."

The World Health Organisation estimates that malaria kills more than a million people each year.