hypoglycemia

(noun)

A too low level of blood glucose.

Related Terms

Examples of hypoglycemia in the following topics:

  • Pancreatic Islet Disorders: Diabetes and Hyperinsulinism

    • Hypoglycemia (not to be confused with hyperglycemia), or "low blood sugar," is an abnormally-diminished content of glucose in the blood.
    • The most common forms of hypoglycemia occur as a complication of treatment of diabetes mellitus with insulin or oral medications.
    • Hypoglycemia is less common in non-diabetic persons, but can occur at any age.
    • It can sometimes be difficult to determine whether a person's symptoms are due to hypoglycemia.
    • Criteria referred to as Whipple's triad are used to determine a diagnosis of hypoglycemia.

  • Adjustments of the Infant at Birth

    • Inadequate glucose substrate can lead to hypoglycemia, fetal growth restriction, preterm delivery, or other problems.
    • For example, early feeding in the delivery room or as soon as possible may prevent hypoglycemia.

  • Adrenal Gland Disorders

    • Symptoms include hypoglycemia, dehydration, weight loss, and disorientation.

  • The Resistance Reaction

    • During this phase, the body can endure changes such as hypovolemia, hypoosmolarity, hyponatremia, hypochloremia, and hypoglycemia—the stressor effect.

  • Spinal Tap

    • Decreased glucose levels can indicate fungal, tuberculous, or pyogenic infections; lymphomas; leukemia spreading to the meninges; meningoencephalitic mumps; or hypoglycemia.

  • Postabsorptive State

    • A diagnostic fast refers to prolonged fasting (from 8–72 hours depending on age) conducted under observation for investigation of a problem, usually hypoglycemia.

  • Pituitary Gland Disorders

    • If the problem is chronic, symptoms consist of fatigue, weight loss, failure to thrive (in children), delayed puberty (in adolescents), hypoglycemia (low blood sugar levels), anemia and hyponatremia (low sodium levels).

  • Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus

    • Diabetes is often detected when a person suffers a problem that may be caused by it, such as a heart attack, stroke, neuropathy, poor wound healing or a foot ulcer, certain eye problems, certain fungal infections, or delivering a baby with macrosomia or hypoglycemia.

  • Premature Infants

    • Gastrointestinal and metabolic issues can arise from hypoglycemia, feeding difficulties, rickets of prematurity, hypocalcemia, inguinal hernia, and necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC).