Articles on Medical Diseases and Conditions

Entries for the ‘Tests for Diabetes and Hypoglycemia’ Category

Neonatal and Childhood Hypoglycemia

Neonatal and childhood hypoglycemia will be considered together, although some are of the fasting type and some are postprandial. Idiopathic hypoglycemia of infancy. It has been reported that as many as 10% of all neonates have at least one low blood glucose value. Neonatal reference values are lower than the adult reference range, and there […]

Postprandial Hypoglycemia

Some of the most common etiologies of postprandial hypoglycemia (which is also known as “reactive hypoglycemia”) include the following eiologies Alimentary. Postprandial Hypoglycemia of gastrointestinal tract origin (sometimes called the “dumping syndrome”) most often occurs after gastric surgery and results from unusually swift or complete gastric emptying of ingested carbohydrate into the duodenum, resulting in […]

Fasting Hypoglycemia

Of the two clinical categories, fasting hypoglycemia is by far the more straightforward. The two chief mechanisms are insulin excess (either absolute or relative) and effects of carbohydrate deprivation. Conditions acting through these mechanisms are the following: 1. The most well-known etiology of insulin excess is the beta-cell insulin-producing pancreatic islet cell tumor (insulinoma). About […]

Hypoglycemia

Hypoglycemia is a topic that has generated a great deal of confusion. Although the word means “low blood glucose,” the diagnosis of hypoglycemia is controversial, because it is sometimes defined strictly on the basis of an arbitrary blood glucose level (chemical hypoglycemia), sometimes in terms of symptoms (clinical hypoglycemia), and sometimes as a combination of […]

Glucosuria

Besides measurement of blood glucose or carbohydrate tolerance, certain other procedures are widely used or proposed for the detection of diabetes mellitus. The appearance of glucose in the urine has long been used both for detection and as a parameter of treatment. As a clue to diagnosis, urine glucose depends on hyperglycemia that exceeds the […]

Autoantibodies Associated with Diabetes

About 60%-90% of type I (insulin-dependent) diabetics have antibody against islet cell cytoplasmic glycoprotein (“islet cell autoantibody”) at the time of diagnosis, and many of those initially without this antibody develop it later. This antibody disappears within 2 years after appearance in 85%-90% of type I diabetics. It has also been reported in about 20% […]

Serum Fructosamine Assay

Besides Hb A, albumin and various globulins may undergo nonenzymatic glycosylation. In contrast to hemoglobin, which has a serum half-life of about 60 days, albumin has a half-life of about 17-20 days, and total protein (roughly one half albumin and one half globulins) has a half-life of about 30 days. Either glycosylated albumin or glycosylated […]

Glycosylated Hemoglobin (GLYCOHB) Assay

In adults, hemoglobin A (Hb A) constitutes about 97%-98% of normal hemoglobin; the remainder includes about 2.5% hemoglobin A2 and about 0.5% hemoglobin F (Hb F). About 6%-7% of Hb A consists of Hb A molecules that have been partially modified by attachment of a glucose molecule to the terminal valine amino acid of the […]

Plasma (or Serum) Insulin Assay

Insulin was the first hormone measured successfully by radioisotope immunoassay, and insulin assay is now available in most sizable reference laboratories. Insulin is excreted primarily through the kidneys. In general, juvenile diabetics have low fasting insulin levels, and an OGTT using insulin determinations usually produces a flat curve. Mild diabetics have normal fasting insulin levels […]

Intravenous Glucose Tolerance Test

The intravenous glucose tolerance test (IVGTT) was devised to eliminate some of the objections to the OGTT. Standard procedure for the IVGTT is as follows: The patient has a 3-day high-carbohydrate preparatory diet. After the FBG level is measured, a standard solution of 50% glucose is injected intravenously over a 3- to 4-minute period 0.33 […]