Insulinoma

Because Diabetes on its own isn’t bad enough, I recently read about something called Insulinoma. For those who may not be familiar with it, insulinomas are rare tumours that develop in the pancreas.Most medical professionals will tell you that they can’t stand to watch hospital shows because of the lack of reality but that’s actually where i heard about them. I was watching a hospital drama when the concept of insulinomas came up. I was curious enough to look it up and lo and behold! It’s a real thing… Here’s some information that I found.

According to an article posted by HealthLine.com, an insulinoma is a small tumour located on the pancreas that causes an excess of insulin production. It usually isn’t cancerous but needs to be removed before the production of excess insulin can be stopped. It can be life-threatening, since excess insulin can cause hypoglycaemia, loss of concsciousness and can mimic symptoms that if undiagnosed, can lead a person to believe they’re developing Diabetes or Epilepsy.

According to an article by one of my favourite websites, WebMD, the usual treatment is to simply remove the tumour surgically. Once this is done, the symptoms usually disappear. In some instances, they may have to excise a piece of the pancreas that has the tumour but that’s pretty rare. Getting an insulinoma is pretty rare, in fact. And in those rare instances where surgery is not an option, there are treatments to help prevent the blood sugar lows.

Every time I think I’ve learned everything there is to know about my condition and the pancreas, something new pops up. Not that this condition is relevant to me, per se… And this isn’t the most stimulating post I’ve ever made. But I can easily see how someone could mistake the symptoms of an insulinoma as contracting Diabetes. And learning something new is never a bad thing, right? ☯️