Hypoglycemia is diagnosed when the sugar level in the blood falls below normal. Among the many causes for the disease, there are some rare instances when hypoglycemia is said to have occurred.


When a person wakes up in the morning on an empty stomach, headaches, lack of energy and concentration problems are symptoms of fasting hypoglycemia. Hormone deficiencies, liver disease and insulin producing tumors are the usual causes. Common among children, vomiting, unconsciousness and seizures are treated with glucose to eliminate fructose from the diet. These attacks are sudden in nature.



Genetic causes include the body’s inability to process the sugar galactose. Infants’ vomit or develop cataract after drinking milk and this can occur weeks after birth. Hypoglycemia can be caused by the failure of the liver to release stored glycogen into the blood.


Increased sensitivity to insulin can be due to a growth hormone deficiency that stops insulin form acting on cells and muscles. Severe episodes of hypoglycemia is seen in people with insulin producing tumors while others with breast and adrenal cancer may have insulin like growth factor resulting in hypoglycemia. Low blood sugar levels can be caused by overmedication with insulin or anti-diabetic pills, due to medications like meta-blockers, pentamidine and bactrim.


Missing meals and alcohol consumption can be another cause of hypoglycemia. Occurring 4-6 hours after eating, reactive hypoglycemia can be caused by the delayed release of insulin after a meal has been absorbed. Other causes are some kind of severe infection, adrenal deficiency, kidney and liver failure, and cancers related to poor oral intake and involving the liver. Insulin producing tumors along with other types of tumors like hepatoma, mesothelioma and fibrosarcoma could produce conditions of hypoglycemia.


As diabetes is of two types like lack of insulin and ineffective insulin action or the body’s resistance to insulin and its actions, they are most common in adults. For those with insufficient insulin, low food intake substituted by doses of insulin could result in hypoglycemia. Alternatively, if they skip meals while on insulin, hypoglycemia can occur.


Any changes in the balance between food intake, medications and insulin could result in the disease.
People with multiple medical problems may have hypoglycemia if they are confused with the different types of medications and miss their diet or exercise while balancing all of them.

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