Idiopathic hypoglycemia is a medical condition in which the

glucose Glucose is a simple sugar with the molecular formula . Glucose is overall the most abundant monosaccharide, a subcategory of carbohydrates. Glucose is mainly made by plants and most algae during photosynthesis from water and carbon dioxide, u ...

level in the

blood Blood is a body fluid in the circulatory system of humans and other vertebrates that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells, and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells. Blood in the cir ...

(

blood glucose Glycaemia, also known as blood sugar level, blood sugar concentration, or blood glucose level is the measure of glucose concentrated in the blood of humans or other animals. Approximately 4 grams of glucose, a simple sugar, is present in the blo ...

) is abnormally low due to an undeterminable cause. This is considered an incomplete and unsatisfactory

diagnosis Diagnosis is the identification of the nature and cause of a certain phenomenon. Diagnosis is used in many different disciplines, with variations in the use of logic, analytics, and experience, to determine " cause and effect". In systems engin ...

by physicians and is rarely used by

endocrinologist Endocrinology (from ''endocrine'' + '' -ology'') is a branch of biology and medicine dealing with the endocrine system, its diseases, and its specific secretions known as hormones. It is also concerned with the integration of developmental events ...

s, as it implies an unfinished diagnostic evaluation. In general, the more severe the

hypoglycemia Hypoglycemia, also called low blood sugar, is a fall in blood sugar to levels below normal, typically below 70 mg/dL (3.9 mmol/L). Whipple's triad is used to properly identify hypoglycemic episodes. It is defined as blood glucose bel ...

and the more clearly it is proven, the less likely it is to remain "

idiopathic An idiopathic disease is any disease with an unknown cause or mechanism of apparent spontaneous origin. From Greek ἴδιος ''idios'' "one's own" and πάθος ''pathos'' "suffering", ''idiopathy'' means approximately "a disease of its own kin ...

".''Idiopathic hypoglycemia'' can also be a synonym for

reactive hypoglycemia Reactive hypoglycemia, postprandial hypoglycemia, or sugar crash is a term describing recurrent episodes of symptomatic hypoglycemia occurring within four hours"Hypoglycemia." It can also be referred to as "sugar crash" or "glucose crash." Nati ...

or for hypoglycemia that is not diagnosed by a physician and does not fulfill the

Whipple triad Whipple's triad is a collection of three signs (called Whipple's criteria) that suggests that a patient's symptoms result from hypoglycaemia that may indicate insulinoma. The essential conditions are symptoms of hypoglycaemia, low blood plasma g ...

criteria. A more precise term for that condition is

idiopathic postprandial syndrome Idiopathic postprandial syndrome, colloquially but incorrectly known by some as hypoglycemia, describes a collection of clinical signs and symptoms similar to medical hypoglycemia but without the demonstrably low blood glucose levels which charac ...

References

* Disorders of endocrine pancreas {{endocrine-disease-stub

See also

References