Is hypoglycemia a disease?

Low blood sugar levels are below 2.8 mmol/l. There are many causes of hypoglycemia, including physiological reasons and organic diseases. In daily life, medications and excessive secretion of endogenous insulin may cause hypoglycemia. In addition, some tumors and some post-meal reactive reasons may also cause hypoglycemia.

What is hypoglycemia

Hypoglycemia refers to a fasting blood glucose concentration in an adult below 2.8mmol/L. Hypoglycemia can be diagnosed in diabetic patients when their blood glucose level is ≤3.9 mmol/L. Hypoglycemia is a syndrome caused by a variety of factors, characterized by low venous plasma glucose (blood sugar) concentration, and clinically by sympathetic nerve excitement and brain cell hypoxia. Symptoms of hypoglycemia usually include sweating, hunger, palpitations, tremors, pale complexion, etc. In severe cases, patients may also experience inattention, restlessness, irritability, and even coma.

Causes

Clinically, repeated occurrence of fasting hypoglycemia indicates an organic disease; reactive hypoglycemia caused by meals is more common in functional diseases. 1. Fasting hypoglycemia (1) Excessive secretion of endogenous insulin: Common causes include insulinoma, autoimmune hypoglycemia, etc. (2) Drug-related: such as injection of insulin, sulfonylurea hypoglycemic drugs, salicylic acid, drinking alcohol, etc. (3) Serious diseases: such as liver failure, heart failure, kidney failure, malnutrition, etc. (4) Insulin antagonist hormone deficiency: such as glucagon, growth hormone, cortisol, etc. (5) Extrapancreatic tumors.

Clinical manifestations

Hypoglycemia occurs in episodes, and the duration and frequency vary depending on the cause, and the symptoms are ever-changing. The clinical manifestations can be summarized into the following two aspects. 1. Manifestations of overexcitement of the autonomic (sympathetic) nerves When hypoglycemia occurs, the sympathetic nerves and adrenal medulla release adrenaline, norepinephrine, etc., and the clinical manifestations are sweating, hunger, palpitations, tremors, pale complexion, etc. 2. The manifestations of brain dysfunction are a series of manifestations of dysfunction when the brain lacks an adequate supply of glucose. The initial symptoms include inattention, slow thinking and speech, dizziness, drowsiness, restlessness, irritability, strange behavior, etc. In severe cases, convulsions, coma and even death may occur.