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Hypoglycemia

Management of Outpatients With Diabetes at High Risk of Hypoglycemia

Author/s: 
Celeste C Thomas, Karishma Chopra, Andrew M Davis

More than 30 million people in the US have diabetes, approximately 5% with type 1 and approximately 95% with type 2. About 5 million individuals in the US with type 2 diabetes use insulin and 7 million take sulfonylureas; both of these medications have a greater association with hypoglycemia than metformin, glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists, dipeptidyl peptidase 4 inhibitors, or sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors. Each month, 70% of people with type 1 diabetes experience some degree of hypoglycemia.1 Level 1 hypoglycemia is defined as blood glucose of 54 to 70 mg/dL; level 2 is less than 54 mg/dL; and severe hypoglycemia (level 3) occurs when low blood glucose levels cause neurologic or physical symptoms that require help from others. Furthermore, recurrent severe hypoglycemia increases risk of future dementia.2 Hypoglycemia occurs more often in people with lower education, lower income, and food insecurity.3 This synopsis focuses on outpatient management of diabetes with high risk of hypoglycemia; the guideline also addresses prevention of hypoglycemia in hospitalized patients.4

Keywords 
diabetes Diabetes and Endocrinology Endocrinology insulin

Nocturnal hypoglycemia is underdiagnosed in older people with insulin-treated type 2 diabetes: The HYPOAGE observational study

Author/s: 
Boureau, A., Guyomarch, B., Gourdy, P., Allix, I., Annweiler, C., Cervantes, N., Chapelet, G., Delabriere, I., Guyonnet, S., Litke, R., Paccalin, M., Penfornis, A., Saulnier, P., Wargny, M., Hadjadj, S., de Decker, L., Cariou, B.

Background: There is a lack of real-life data regarding the frequency and predictive factors of hypoglycemia in older patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D). This study aimed to determine the frequency and predictors of hypoglycemia in older patients with insulin-treated T2D.

Methods: This prospective multicenter study included 155 insulin-treated T2D patients aged 75 years and older with ≥2 self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) daily controls. Participants underwent a geriatric and diabetic assessment and received ambulatory blinded continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) for 28 consecutive days with FreeStyle Libre Pro® sensor. Study population (n = 141) has >70% CGM active time. Multivariable logistic regressions were used to identify factors associated with SMBG confirmed hypoglycemia (≥70 mg/dL) and with nocturnal level 2 time below range (glucose concentration <54 mg/dL during ≥15 consecutive min between 0.00 and 6.00 am).

Results: The mean age of the 141 analyzed patients was 81.5 ± 5.3 years and 56.7% were male. The mean baseline HbA1c was 7.9% ± 1.0%. After geriatric assessment, 102 participants (72.3%) were considered as complex and 39 (27.7%) as healthy. The primary endpoint (confirmed SMBG <70 mg/dL) occurred in 37.6% patients. In multivariable analysis, the risk of SMBG-confirmed hypoglycemia was positively associated with a longer duration of diabetes (OR (+1 year) =1.04, (1.00-1.08), p = 0.04) and glycemic variability assessed by CGM (CV %) (OR (+1%) = 1.12, [1.05-1.19], p = <0.001). Nighty-two patients (65.2%) experienced nocturnal time in hypoglycemia (i.e., <54 mg/dL during ≥15 consecutive min between midnight and 6 a.m.). In multivariable analyses, cognitive impairment (OR: 9.31 [2.59-33.4]), heart failure (OR: 4.81 [1;48-15.6]), and depressive disorder (OR: 0.19 [0.06-0.53]) were associated with nocturnal time in hypoglycemia.

Conclusion: Nocturnal hypoglycemia is very common and largely underdiagnosed in older patients with insulin-treated T2D. CGM is a promising tool to better identify hypoglycemia and adapt diabetes management in this population.

Keywords 
basal insulin analogues continuous glucose monitoring glycemic control Hypoglycemics type 2 diabetes

The Management of Type 1 Diabetes in Adults. A Consensus Report by the American Diabetes Association (ADA) and the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD)

Author/s: 
Holt, R. I. G., DeVries, J. H., Hess-Fischl, A., Hirsch, I. B., Kirkman, M. S., Klupa, T., Ludwig, B., Nørgaard, K., Pettus, J., Renard, E., Skyler, J. S., Snoek, F. J., Weinstock, R. S., Peters, A. L.

The American Diabetes Association (ADA) and the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) convened a writing group to develop a consensus statement on the management of type 1 diabetes in adults. The writing group has considered the rapid development of new treatments and technologies and addressed the following topics: diagnosis, aims of management, schedule of care, diabetes self-management education and support, glucose monitoring, insulin therapy, hypoglycemia, behavioral considerations, psychosocial care, diabetic ketoacidosis, pancreas and islet transplantation, adjunctive therapies, special populations, inpatient management, and future perspectives. Although we discuss the schedule for follow-up examinations and testing, we have not included the evaluation and treatment of the chronic microvascular and macrovascular complications of diabetes as these are well-reviewed and discussed elsewhere. The writing group was aware of both national and international guidance on type 1 diabetes and did not seek to replicate this but rather aimed to highlight the major areas that health care professionals should consider when managing adults with type 1 diabetes. Though evidence-based where possible, the recommendations in the report represent the consensus opinion of the authors.

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