Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
😵 Low blood sugar 💉 Medical treatment
insulin shock

insulin shock

1 7.2
A severe effect or treatment using too much insulin that causes uncontrolled shaking and coma
  • noun
  • /ˈɪnsəˌlɪn ʃɑk/
  • Specialized
translation icon : shock insulínico
  • Doctors once used insulin shock therapy to treat certain psychiatric conditions.

Examples

  • He experienced insulin shock after taking too much medication.

  • The patient was hospitalized after experiencing insulin shock as a result of an overdose.

  • Early symptoms of insulin shock can include confusion, sweating, and rapid heartbeat.

  • The doctor warned about the risks of insulin shock.

  • After taking too much insulin, he experienced insulin shock, which left him in a confused state.

  • The doctor explained that insulin shock could cause symptoms like convulsions and loss of consciousness.

  • During her diabetes management class, she learned about insulin shock and its potential risks.

Synonyms

insulin shock treatment
vsinsulin shock
  • Archaic
7.1

A medical treatment that uses large doses of insulin to cause seizures and coma, formerly used for serious mental illness

is broader and also names the spontaneous severe state from excess hormone
insulin shock therapy
vsinsulin shock
  • Archaic
9.8

A past treatment for mental illness that used large insulin doses to cause fits and coma

is a general label that also includes the medical condition caused by excess hormone
insulin reaction
vsinsulin shock
  • Specialized
6.1

A sudden drop in blood sugar after taking too much insulin

is broader by also applying to deliberate treatments producing convulsions and coma

How Severe

coma
  • Specialized
259 5.4
insulin shock
  • Specialized
1 7.2
insulin reaction
  • Specialized
6.1
hypoglycemia
  • Specialized
6 5.9

Surface Forms

insulin shock singular
insulin shocks plural

Morphology

insulin + shock

The constituents 'insulin' (the hormone) and 'shock' (a severe medical state) together transparently signal a serious medical emergency caused by insulin, so a B1 learner who knows both words can infer it refers to a dangerous reaction to insulin. However, the precise clinical sense (severe hypoglycaemia with convulsions/coma) and the technical use of 'shock' are specialized and not fully predictable from everyday knowledge, so the expression is only partially transparent.

Etymology

Insulin shock was also the name of an old treatment where doctors gave large doses of insulin to put a patient into a 'shock' or 'coma' to try to help 'mental illness'. So the phrase can refer to that severe treatment or to the resulting state of 'convulsions' or 'coma'.