Acarbose and idiopathic reactive hypoglycemia
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Published on: November 16, 2011
1University of the West Indies, Nassau, Bahamas. samaxe@aol.com
Background/Aim:
Therapy for idiopathic reactive hypoglycemia is ineffective and impractical. Acarbose, an alpha-glucosidase inhibitor, decreases the absorbed glucose load. This study was done to determine the efficacy of acarbose in this syndrome.
Methods:
Six patients with symptoms suggestive of postprandial hypoglycemia were chosen consecutively. Three-hour oral glucose tolerance tests using 75 g of glucose were done on each patient. The patients were then treated with acarbose with each meal.
Results:
All patients had symptomatic hypoglycemia during testing. After 4 weeks of acarbose therapy, all patients were asymptomatic on a regular diet.
Conclusion:
Acarbose is efficacious in the management of idiopathic reactive hypoglycemia.
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