Scientists find the cause of hypoglycemia

Hypoglycemia usually affects diabetics or patients with a disorder that causes overproduction of insulin. It is causes an increase in the level of insulin and cause the sugar level to drop dangerously in these patients. The common symptoms of this disorder are unconsciousness and seizures.

Hypoglycemia is genetic and rare
In some rare cases where hypoglycemia caused the insulin to drop to undetectable levels the treatment required implantation of a surgical tube through the front of the stomach that continued feeding the patient even during his sleep.

This prevented the level of glucose in the blood of the patient from dropping to dangerous level overnight. During night monitoring of the sugar level and the symptoms are difficult to notice during the sleep of the patient.

Such severe disorder is caused by a genetic disorder that is estimated to affect one out of every 100,000 persons.

Dr. Robert Semple, from the Institute of Metabolic Science, University of Cambridge, said, “Fear of low blood sugar has dominated the lives of these patients and their families, and for many years the lack of an obvious cause has added to their anxiety.

"Offering families an explanation for a rare disease is usually of great value to them in its own right, but in this case it is particularly exciting that our findings open the door for a new and specific treatment in future.”

AKT2 gene structural difference a reason
The scientists studied three children affected with this rare form of disorder and by examining the genetic code of these children; they were able to recognize a rare genetic alteration that causes the disorder. The researchers found that there was a single change in AKT2 gene which was not presented in other patients.

AKT2 is crucial for transmitting the signals of insulin to the tissues of the body. The researchers that due to the change in AKT2, it left the signal constantly turned on partly, even during fasting when it hampers the production of liver glucose.

The findings of the study increase the chances of treating the disorder with cancer drugs that are in advance stages of development. As AKT2 is closely related to AKT1, a molecule commonly activated in cancers, the drug that blocks the activation of these molecules could be possibly used to treat Hypoglycemia also.