Hypoglycemia in children.

The factors that sustain postabsorptive glucose concentrations have been analyzed and the adverse effects of various hypoglycemic disorders on these factors examined. The role of alanine has been reviewed and the importance of glycerol as a precursor of glucose and of ketones as a fuel substitute for glucose emphasized. Finally, we have suggested that fasting functional hypoglycemia replace ketotic hypoglycemia as a descriptive term and that we relinquish the concept of leucine-sensitive hypoglycemia as a specific entity.