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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.
Other conditions that can cause unconsciousness in a person with diabetes are stroke, uremic encephalopathy, alcohol, drug overdose, head injury, or seizure. Most patients do not reach the point of unconsciousness or coma in cases of diabetic hypoglycemia, diabetic ketoacidosis, or severe hyperosmolarity before a family member or caretaker ...
Inborn errors of metabolism may cause infant hypoglycemia, and much less commonly adult hypoglycemia. [25] Disorders that are related to the breakdown of glycogen, called glycogen storage diseases, may cause hypoglycemia. [3] [25] Normally, breakdown of glycogen leads to increased glucose levels, particularly in a fasting state. [3]
In most cases, hypoglycemia is treated with sugary drinks or food. In severe cases, an injection of glucagon (a hormone with effects largely opposite to those of insulin) or an intravenous infusion of dextrose is used for treatment, but usually only if the person is unconscious. In any given incident, glucagon will only work once as it uses ...
Diabetic hypoglycemia can be mild, recognized easily by the patient, and reversed with a small amount of carbohydrates eaten or drunk, or it may be severe enough to cause unconsciousness requiring intravenous dextrose or an injection of glucagon. Severe hypoglycemic unconsciousness is one form of diabetic coma. A common medical definition of ...
Death or permanent brain damage resembling stroke can occur rarely as a result of severe hypoglycemia. See hypoglycemia for more on effects, recovery, and risks. Further therapy and prevention depends upon the specific cause. Most hypoglycemia due to excessive insulin occurs in people who take insulin for type 1 diabetes.
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
Furthermore, the reduction in intracranial hypertension may not be sustained. Some randomized trials have failed to demonstrate any survival or morbidity benefit of induced coma in diverse conditions such as neurosurgical operations, head trauma, [19] intracranial aneurysm rupture, intracranial hemorrhage, ischemic stroke, and status epilepticus.