Hypoglycemia is a condition where blood sugar, or blood glucose, levels fall too low. After eating, the level of glucose in the blood rises and is consumed or stored in the liver and muscles. A few hours after eating, the blood sugar drops and hormones signal the liver and muscle to release stored glucose back to the blood stream, thus keeping the level of blood sugar relatively stable. In people with hypoglycemia, notes Medline Plus, the release of stored glucose doesn't happen and therefore blood glucose levels get dangerously low. The most common reason for hypoglycemia is as a side effect to diabetes medication. Hypoglycemia in people without diabetes is much less common, but there are several possible causes.
Medication
Overdosing on diabetic medication or accidentally taking someone else's diabetes medication can cause hypoglycemia, notes Mayo Clinic. Drug-induced hypoglycemia is low blood sugar that results from medication and is relatively rare, according to Drug Information Online. Medications that can induce hypoglycemia include, but are not limited to, the antibiotic Bactrim, beta blockers used for cardiac issues, the antipsychotic haloperidol, MAO inhibitors used to treat mood disorders, the antimicrobial pentamidine, quinidine used to treat arrhythmias and quinine used for leg cramps and malaria, notes Drug Information Online.
Alcohol
Excessive alcohol consumption, especially without eating, can inhibit the liver from releasing stored glucose into the blood and cause hypoglycemia, notes Mayo Clinic and this effect can even occur a day or two later, notes the National Diabetes Information Clearing House, or NDICH. The liver is an important processor of alcohol in the body, and with excessive alcohol consumption without food, the liver is occupied with alcohol and unable to release the sugar needed by the body.
Illness
Liver disease, such as viral hepatitis or cirrhosis, may result in insufficient storage of sugar in the liver and contribute to hypoglycemia, notes Merck Manual. Kidney disorders that inhibit proper excretion of medications can result in hypoglycemia because of a build up of those medications, notes Mayo Clinic. Children and infants who have abnormal enzyme systems that control blood sugar may have fasting hypoglycemia, notes Merck Manual, and long-term starvation or anorexia can deplete the body's ability to generate glucose and cause hypoglycemia as well, notes Mayo Clinic. Autoimmune disorders can lower sugar levels by various means, including changing insulin secretion, notes Merck Manual.
Cancer and Tumors
Although rare, a tumor of the pancreas called insulinoma can causes insulin overproduction and result in hypoglycemia. Tumors can result in the excessive production and release of insulin-like substances, which remove glucose from the blood, notes Mayo Clinic. Alternatively, tumors, which consume as much of the bodies glucose as possible, can leave the rest of the body in a hypoglycemic state, notes Mayo Clinic. Cancer of the liver can impede glucose storage and contribute to hypoglycemia as well.
Hormone Disorders
Merck Manual notes that disorders that lower hormone production by the pituitary and adrenal glands, like Addison's disease, can cause hypoglycemia, notes Merck Manual. Disoders that affect the pituitary and adrenal glands can result in a deficienty of key hormones that control glucose production, notes Mayo Clinic and children with these types of disorders are more susceptible to hypoglycemia than adults.
Considerations
Hypoglycemia normally occurs in a fasting state, but sometimes it can occur shortly after a meal because the body produces more insulin than needed. This is called reactive hypoglycemia and is more common in people who have had gastric bypass surgery, notes Mayo Clinic.
