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Insulin Reaction

Insulin Reaction Overview

An insulin reaction is an excessively low blood sugar level (hypoglycemia), usually lower than 50 mg/dL. Insulin reactions result from an excess of insulin via an injection or an excess of an insulin-stimulating oral hypoglycemic agent, usually in the sulfonylurea class of drugs. Insulin reactions are more common in people with severe diabetes. Hypoglycemia occurs more often when a person is attempting to achieve near normal blood sugar levels.



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Insulin Reaction

High Blood Sugar Overview

Whenever the glucose (sugar) level in one's blood rises high temporarily, this condition is known as hyperglycemia. The opposite condition, low blood sugar, is called hypoglycemia.

Glucose comes from most foods, and the body uses other chemicals to create glucose in the liver and muscles. The blood carries glucose (blood sugar) to all the cells in the body. To carry glucose into the cells as an energy supply, cells need help from insulin. Insulin is a hormone made by the pancreas, an organ near the stomach.

The pancreas releases insulin into the blood, based upon the blood sugar level. Insulin helps move glucose from digested food enter into cells. Sometimes, the body stops making insulin (for example, in type 1 diabetes), or the insulin does not work properly (as in type 2 diabetes). In diabetic patients, glucose does not enter the cells sufficiently, thus staying in the blood and creating high blood suga...

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Somogyi Phenomenon »

In the 1930s, Somogyi speculated that hypoglycemia induced by insulin could cause a counter-regulatory hormone response that produces hyperglycemia.

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