Personal Practice Archives of Disease in Childhood, 1971, 46, 716. Hypoglycaemia in Infancy and Childhood*

Hypoglycaemia is only a symptom of some under-lying disease process. Lack of glucose, the essential nutrient of the developing nervous system, may result in permanent alteration of brain structure and function. While to discover the cause of hypoglycaemia sometimes requires careful and sophisticated investigation, in this brief review we shall outline how the commoner causes of hypoglycaemia (blood sugar less than 50 mg/100 ml) in infants and children can be recognized and treated. Convulsions are the commonest presenting symptom of hypoglycaemia at any age, but particu-larly under 1 year. Pallor, weakness, profuse perspiration, and limp spells may occur. In olde