Contents

Disclaimer

Oxford University Press makes no representation, express or implied, that the drug dosages in this book are correct. Readers must therefore always check the product information and clinical procedures with the most up to date published product information and data sheets provided by the manufacturers and the most recent codes of conduct and safety regulations. The authors and the publishers do not accept responsibility or legal liability for any errors in the text or for the misuse or misapplication of material in this work. Except where otherwise stated, drug dosages and recommendations are for the non-pregnant adult who is not breastfeeding.

Show Summary Details
Page of

Hypoglycaemia in the treatment of diabetes mellitus 

Hypoglycaemia in the treatment of diabetes mellitus
Chapter:
Hypoglycaemia in the treatment of diabetes mellitus
Author(s):

Pratik Choudhary

and Stephanie A. Amiel

DOI:
10.1093/med/9780199235292.003.1435
Page of

PRINTED FROM OXFORD MEDICINE ONLINE (www.oxfordmedicine.com). © Oxford University Press, 2020. All Rights Reserved. Under the terms of the licence agreement, an individual user may print out a PDF of a single chapter of a title in Oxford Medicine Online for personal use (for details see Privacy Policy and Legal Notice).

date: 12 August 2020

Hypoglycaemia (low blood glucose concentration) is the most important acute complication of the pharmacological treatment of diabetes mellitus. Low blood glucose impairs brain (and, potentially, cardiac) function. The brain has minimal endogenous stores of energy, with small amounts of glycogen in astroglial cells. The brain is therefore largely dependent on circulating glucose as the substrate to fuel cerebral metabolism and support cognitive performance. If blood glucose levels fall sufficiently, cognitive dysfunction is inevitable. In health, efficient glucose sensing and counterregulatory mechanisms exist to prevent clinically significant hypoglycaemia. These are impaired by diabetes and by its therapies. Patients with diabetes rank fear of hypoglycaemia as highly as fear of chronic complications such as nephropathy or retinopathy (1). Fear of hypoglycaemia, hypoglycaemia itself and attempts to avoid hypoglycaemia limit the degree to which glycaemic control can be intensified to reduce the risk of chronic complications of diabetes both for type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

Access to the complete content on Oxford Medicine Online requires a subscription or purchase. Public users are able to search the site and view the abstracts for each book and chapter without a subscription.

Please subscribe or login to access full text content.

If you have purchased a print title that contains an access token, please see the token for information about how to register your code.

For questions on access or troubleshooting, please check our FAQs, and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us.