Diabetic hypoglycemia can occur in any person with diabetes who takes any medicine to lower their blood glucose, but severe hypoglycemia occurs most often in people with type 1 diabetes who must take insulin for survival.
In type 1 diabetes, iatrogenic [caused by medicine] hypoglycemia is more appropriately viewed as the result of the interplay of insulin excess and compromised glucose counterregulation rather than as absolute or relative insulin excess alone.
Hypoglycemia can also be caused by sulfonylureas in people with type 2 diabetes, although it is far less common because glucose counterregulation generally remains intact in people with type 2 diabetes. Severe hypoglycemia rarely, if ever, occurs in people with diabetes treated only with diet, exercise, or insulin sensitizers.
For people with insulin-requiring diabetes, hypoglycemia is one of the recurrent hazards of treatment. It limits the achievability of normal glucoses with current treatment methods. Hypoglycemia is a true medical emergency, which requires prompt recognition and treatment to prevent organ and brain damage.
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"Diabetic hypoglycemia"
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