Table of Contents
- Overview
- Symptoms
- Treatment
- Prevention
- Images
An insulinoma is a
Alternative Names
Insuloma; Islet cell adenoma
Causes, incidence, and risk factors
The pancreas is an organ in the abdomen that makes several enzymes and hormones, including the hormone insulin. Insulin's job is to reduce the level of sugar (glucose) in the blood by helping it move into cells.
Most of the time when your blood sugar level drops too low, the pancreas stops making insulin until your blood sugar returns to normal. Tumors of the pancreas that produce too much insulin are called insulinomas. Insulinomas keep making insulin, even when your blood sugar drops too low.
High blood insulin levels cause low blood sugar levels (
Insulinomas are rare tumors. They usually occur as single, small tumors in adults.
These tumors are very rare in children. Most children with high blood insulin levels have many areas of overactive insulin-releasing cells in the pancreas, instead of a single tumor.
Taking medications that cause too much insulin in the blood, either accidentally or on purpose, is about as common as insulinoma.
More than 90% of insulinomas are non-cancerous (benign) tumors. People with the genetic syndrome called
Review Date: 10/30/2010
Reviewed By: David C. Dugdale III, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of
General Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington
School of Medicine. Also reviewed by Ari S. Eckman, MD, Chief,
Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, Trinitas
Regional Medical Center, Elizabeth, NJ. Review provided by VeriMed
Healthcare Network. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical
Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.
A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org)
