Recurrent severe hypoglycemia in Type 1 diabetes: potential for prevention?

Abstract

Aim: To compare characteristics of solitary and recurrent episodes of severe hypoglycemia in order to explore the potential for prevention of recurrent severe hypoglycemia (SH) in a cohort of patients with Type 1 diabetes. Methods: 230 patients with Type 1 diabetes were followed prospectively for 1 year and reported characteristics of SH within 24 h. Results: 239 episodes of SH were reported by 86 patients, corresponding to 1.0 episode per patient year; 82% of the episodes were recurrent (≥2 episodes per patient year). Compared with solitary SH, recurrent SH occurred more often during daytime, primarily in subjects with reduced hypoglycemia awareness, and were characterized by absence of warning symptoms. Conclusion: A large proportion of SH in Type 1 diabetes is recurrent and thereby potentially preventable. Focus should be directed towards patients with reduced hypoglycemia awareness. Summary points Results

The impact of hypoglycaemia on quality of life among adults with type 1 diabetes: Results from “YourSAY: Hypoglycaemia”

“…The survey was advertised as a study focused on the impact of hypoglycaemia; thus, there was likely an over-representation of participants concerned with hypoglycaemia. However, rates of IAH were typical of people attending specialist diabetes clinics (35) and rates of severe hypoglycaemia were lower than in a previous population study (36). It is notable that there was a high use of technology in this sample, which may have been prescribed due to concerns about hypoglycaemia and/or IAH.…”

Protective and risk factors of recurrent severe hypoglycemia in adults with type 1 diabetes: A cross-sectional analysis of baseline data from the PR-IAH study

“…RSH was associated with a fear of hypoglycemia and diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) in 71 adults with T1D [9]. RSH remains a problem in patients with T1D, despite the major advances in therapeutic options such as continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) and continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII) [10]. However, the association between protective and risk factors and RSH in adults with T1D is still not fully understood [11].…”