Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 11, 2026

A Zebrafish Model of Diabetes Mellitus and Metabolic Memory
Published on: February 28, 2013
Intensive glucose control and hypoglycaemia: a new cardiovascular risk factor?
Omar A Rana1, Christopher D Byrne, Kim Greaves
1Department of Cardiology, University of Southampton and Southampton University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, , Southampton, Hampshire, UK.
Abstract:
Intensive glucose control is widely practiced in patients with diabetes mellitus and patients acutely admitted to hospitals with concomitant stress-induced hyperglycaemia. Such a strategy increases the risk of hypoglycaemia by several-fold. Hypoglycaemia leads to a surge in catecholamine levels with a profound haemodynamic response. In patients with a decreased cardiac reserve, such significant changes can culminate in serious or even fatal cardiovascular outcomes. This review is aimed at discussing in depth the evidence to date that links hypoglycaemia with cardiovascular mortality, reviewing the likely mechanisms underlying this association, as well as summarising these from a cardiologist's perspective.
Related Concept Videos
Hyperglycemia
Hypoglycemia and Glucagon
Hypoglycemia
Diabetes Mellitus: Type 2 and Gestational
Type I Diabetes II: Pathophysiology
Oral Hypoglycemic Agents: Biguanides and Glitazones

