Abstract
The aim of our study was to evaluate the frequency of hypoglycaemia unawareness and the continuous glucose profile in a group of subjects with Type 1 diabetes (T1D) with repeated non-severe/severe hypoglycaemia. Twenty patients (aged 35.2 ± 7.6 years, duration of disease 16.4 ± 6.4 years) were included. Hypoglycaemia awareness was evaluated using questionnaires and after an acute-induced hypoglycaemia. Glucose profile was studied using 72-h continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). All subjects were classified as having hypoglycaemia unawareness by questionnaires. Four patients displayed a “normal” signs/symptoms response to hypoglycaemia. The CGM revealed 18% of the measurements <70 mg/dl and this percentage was correlated with questionnaire score (r = 0.55, P < 0.035) and with the increase in the percentage of signs/symptoms during the induced hypoglycaemia (r = −0.57, P < 0.015). In patients exhibiting an “abnormal” response during hypoglycaemia, CGM values <70 mg/dl was higher (22.6 ± 8.4%) than in those with a “normal” response (10.2 ± 9.0%; P < 0.028). Summarising, in subjects with T1D and repeated hypoglycaemia the frequency of impaired awareness is substantially common. Its presence is related to a high proportion of ambulatory glycaemic profile below the desirable range.
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Acknowledgments
M.G. is the recipient of a grant from the Hospital Clínic i Universitari of Barcelona. This work was supported in part by a grant (PI060250) from the “Ministerio de Sanidad y Consumo” of Spain. Medtronic Ibérica sponsored this work, in part.
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Giménez, M., Lara, M., Jiménez, A. et al. Glycaemic profile characteristics and frequency of impaired awareness of hypoglycaemia in subjects with T1D and repeated hypoglycaemic events. Acta Diabetol 46, 291–293 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00592-008-0085-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00592-008-0085-0