Insulinoma

Introduction: Insulinoma

Insulinoma is form of endocrine pancreatic cancer that usually causes the pancreas to produce too much insulin, leading to the "opposite of diabetes" with conditions such as clinical hypoglycemia.

Symptoms of Insulinoma

• Clinical hypoglycemia
• Chronic repeated hypoglycemia
• Fasting hypoglycemia - excess insulin
• CNS symptoms - excess insulin
• Ataxia - excess insulin

See full list of 12 symptoms of Insulinoma

Home Diagnostic Testing

Home medical testing related to Insulinoma:

• High Cholesterol: Home Testing:
  • Home Cholesterol Tests
  • Home Triglycerides Tests
  • Home Blood Pressure Tests
• High Blood Pressure: Home Testing
  • Home Blood Pressure Monitors
  • Home Heart Tests
• Heart Health: Home Testing:
  • Heart Rate Monitors
  • Irregular Heartbeat Detection
  • Heart Electrocardiogram (ECG)
• Thyroid: Home Testing:
  • Home Thyroid Function Tests
  • Home TSH Tests
  • Home Adrenal Function Tests
• Diet & Weight Loss: Home Testing:
  • Home Weight Testing
  • Home Body Fat Testing (BMI)
  • Home Body Fat Monitoring
  • Home Fitness Testing
• Diabetes: Related Home Testing:
  • Home Diabetes Tests
  • Home Blood Glucose Tests
  • Home Urine Glucose Tests
  • Home Urine Ketone Tests
  • Home Diabetes HbA1c Tests
  • Home Microalbumin Tests (Kidney)
  • Home Urine Protein Tests (Kidney)
  • Home Kidney Tests
  • Home Eye Tests

Medical Textbooks Online about Insulinoma

Book excerpts: Copyright © 2008 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. All rights reserved.

Less Common Symptoms of Insulinoma

• Faintness
• Palpitations
• Hunger
• Sweating

Read more about symptoms of Insulinoma

Wrongly Diagnosed with Insulinoma?

• Misdiagnosis of Insulinoma
• Underlying causes of Insulinoma (possibly wrongly diagnosed)

In-Depth Reports: Diagnosis and Misdiagnosis

Diabetes diagnosis and misdiagnosis (In-Depth Report): Although diabetes diagnosis is well-known to physicians, and a diabetes diagnosis is unlikely to be wholly incorrect, there are still some rare subtypes and less common diagnostic issues to consider. See also misdiagnosis of diabetes and Diabetes Diagnosis Report....read full report »

Read more about Misdiagnosis and Insulinoma

Misdiagnosis and Insulinoma

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Heart attacks can be undiagnosed: Although the most severe symptoms of heart attack are hard to miss, there are varying degrees of severity. It is altogether too common for people to die from undiagnosed heart attack, or...read more »

Heart attacks can be overdiagnosed: Although many people die from heart attacks, there are also many cases where people fear that they have a heart attack, but actually have something milder. Some of the...read more »

Cluster of diseases with difficult diagnosis issues: There is a well-known list of medical conditions that are all somewhat difficult to diagnose, and all can present in a variety of...read more »

Poorly healing leg rashes a classic sign of chronic disease: Recurring leg rashes, or poorly healing leg rashes, are a classic sign of undiagnosed diabetes,...read more »

Leg cramps at night a classic sign: The symptom of having leg muscle cramps, particularly at night, is a classic sign of undiagnosed diabetes. However, there are also...read more »

Obesity-related conditions undiagnosed in children: A variety of conditions are associated with obesity (see obesity), but these tend to be undiagnosed more often in child patients than in...read more »

Various reasons for obesity: Various studies have shown that approximately 10% of prepubertal and 15% of adolescent age groups are obese. Parents often blame obesity in children...read more »

Read more about Misdiagnosis and Insulinoma

Causes of Insulinoma

Read more about causes of Insulinoma.

More information about causes of Insulinoma:

• Insulinoma as a complication caused by other conditions
• Insulinoma as a symptom

Videos for Insulinoma

Patient Surveys for Insulinoma

• Patient Profile Survey
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• Survey about the symptoms of your Insulinoma
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Reseach about Insulinoma

Visit our research pages for current research about Insulinoma treatments.

Clinical Trials for Insulinoma

The US based website ClinicalTrials.gov lists information on both federally and privately supported clinical trials using human volunteers.

Some of the clinical trials listed on ClinicalTrials.gov for Insulinoma include:

• Diagnosing and Treating Low Blood Sugar Levels - This study is currently recruiting patients (Current: 23 Nov 2006)
• Laparoscopy to Remove Pancreatic Tumors (Insulinomas) - This study has been completed (Current: 23 Nov 2006)
• PS-341 in Treating Patients With Metastatic Neuroendocrine Tumors - This study has been completed (Current: 23 Nov 2006) - PS-341
• Gefitinib in Treating Patients With Progressive Metastatic Neuroendocrine Tumors - This study has been suspended (Current: 23 Nov 2006) - gefitinib
• Sorafenib in Treating Patients With Progressive Metastatic Neuroendocrine Tumors - This study is currently recruiting patients (Current: 23 Nov 2006) - sorafenib

See full list of 28 Clinical Trials for Insulinoma

Stories from Users Related to Insulinoma

• Insulinoma in dogs

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  • Lump in back of neck - Lump under arm - Worried
  • swollen neck lymphnode
  • wrong diagnoisis was right diagnoisis
  • More user stories

User Interactive Forums

Read about other experiences, ask a question about Insulinoma, or answer someone else's question, on our message boards:

• I can not get a diagnosis. Please help.
• Tell us your medical story.
• Share your misdiagnosis story.
• What is the best treatment for this?
• See all the forums.

Definitions of Insulinoma:

This is a rare insulin secreting neuroendocrine tumor. The majority of insulinomas are small, non-metastatic and occur as solitary tumors. They are most often confined to the pancreas. Diagnostic examinations include: patient history for related hypoglycemic symptoms and fasting tests with repeated glucose and insulin levels. The treatment of choice is tumor resection. - 2002 - (Source - Diseases Database)

Insulinoma is listed as a "rare disease" by the Office of Rare Diseases (ORD) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This means that Insulinoma, or a subtype of Insulinoma, affects less than 200,000 people in the US population.
Source - National Institutes of Health (NIH)