Hypoglycaemia in the absence of diabetes in adults

Extract

• Blood glucose should be measured without delay if there has been a rapid change in cognitive functions or in the level of consciousness.
• Definition of clinical hypoglycaemia (Whipple triad)
  • plasma glucose < 3 mmol/l and
  • symptoms or findings consistent with hypoglycaemia that are
  • corrected as the glucose level rises.
• The cause of hypoglycaemia should be established in patients with the Whipple triad.
  • The most common cause of hypoglycaemia is either medication or chronic disease.
  • A tendency to postprandial hypoglycaemia may develop as a late complication of gastric bypass surgery.
  • In previously healthy patients, hypoglycaemia may be due to endogenous hyperinsulinism, related to insulinoma or dysfunction of pancreatic beta cells or an autoimmune mechanism.
• Clinical hypoglycaemia in the absence of diabetes or antidiabetic medication is very rare.
• Symptoms consistent with hypoglycaemia in the absence of low (< 3 mmol/l) plasma glucose detected with a reliable method do not warrant further investigations because mild hypoglycaemia may cause symptoms even in healthy people.

Read full article of Hypoglycaemia in the absence of diabetes in adults

Search terms

Autoimmune hypoglycaemia, BGL, Blood glucose, Blood glucose level, E15#, E16.0#, E16.10, E16.19, E16.2, EIH, Ecercise-induced hyperinsulinism, Endocrinology, Endogenous hyperinsulinism, Hyperinsulinism, Hyperinsulism, Hypo, Hypoglycaemia, Insulinoma, Internal medicine, Low blood sugar, Whipple triad, Whipple's triad, beta-cell hyperplasia