What is it about?
Glucose control is usually judged by levels, such as whether someone is in or out of range. This paper highlights that how quickly glucose changes also matters. It introduces simple terms for glucose dynamics: cataglycemia (rapid fall), anaglycemia (rapid rise), and homeoglycemia (stable), directly analogous to hypoglycemia (low glucose), hyperglycemia (high glucose), and euglycemia (normal glucose). These terms make it easier to distinguish a rapid fall from a low glucose level itself.
Featured Image
Photo by diabetesmagazijn.nl on Unsplash
Why is it important?
Clinicians often focus on whether glucose crosses thresholds, but may miss the significance of rapid declines that never reach hypoglycemia. Recognising these dynamics could improve risk assessment, symptom interpretation, and clinical decision-making. Recent studies also show that in people without diabetes, so-called “reactive hypoglycemia” symptoms can occur during rapid drops that never reach hypoglycemic thresholds, highlighting the need for clearer terminology.
Perspectives
This paper reflects an effort to better align clinical language with observed physiology, particularly where rapid glucose changes appear to have meaningful effects even without crossing formal thresholds.
Dr Robert Richardson
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Anaglycemia and Cataglycemia: Proposed Terminology for Glucose Dynamics, Journal of Diabetes Science and Technology, October 2025, SAGE Publications,
DOI: 10.1177/19322968251383919.
You can read the full text:
Contributors
The following have contributed to this page
