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Recurrent mild hypoglycemia may fit a reactive hypoglycemia pattern, but this is also the peak age for idiopathic postprandial syndrome, and recurrent "spells" in this age group can be traced to orthostatic hypotension or hyperventilation as often as demonstrable hypoglycemia. [citation needed] Insulin-induced hypoglycemia
When individuals take insulin without needing it, to purposefully induce hypoglycemia, this is referred to as surreptitious insulin use or factitious hypoglycemia. [ 3 ] [ 2 ] [ 24 ] Some people may use insulin to induce weight loss, whereas for others this may be due to malingering or factitious disorder , which is a psychiatric disorder . [ 24 ]
In the elderly, hypoglycemia can produce focal stroke-like effects or a hard-to-define malaise. [medical citation needed] The symptoms of a single person do tend to be similar from episode to episode. In the large majority of cases, hypoglycemia severe enough to cause seizures or unconsciousness can be reversed without obvious harm to the brain.
The first description of children with congenital hyperinsulinism was made in 1954 by Dr Irvin McQuarrie in his presidential address to the American Pediatric Society. McQuarrie termed the disorder "idiopathic hypoglycemia of infancy" and several of his patients required removal of most of their pancreas to control their hypoglycemia.
Alanine is a direct precursor in gluconeogenesis and can be used for treatment of ketotic hypoglycemia. If an episode begins, affected children should be given fluids and carbohydrate-rich foods immediately, if swallowing is not compromised. [2] A carbohydrate gel can be applied to the inside of the mouth in children who are unable to swallow.
Hypoglycemia can also be caused by sulfonylureas in people with type 2 diabetes, although it is far less common because glucose counterregulation generally remains intact in people with type 2 diabetes. Severe hypoglycemia rarely, if ever, occurs in people with diabetes treated only with diet, exercise, or insulin sensitizers.
Hypoglycemia can be problematic if it occurs while driving as it can affect a person's thinking process, coordination, and state of consciousness. [ 56 ] [ 57 ] Some patients are more prone to hypoglycemia as they have reported fewer warning symptoms, and their body released less epinephrine (a hormone that helps raise BG). [ 58 ]
Hypoglycemia is the most common metabolic problem in newborns. [2] Neonatal hypoglycemia is hypothesized to occur in between 1 in 3 births out of every 1,000 births, but the true number is not known since there is no international standard for measurement. It often occurs in premature and small babies and babies of diabetic mothers.