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Volume 12 Issue 1 (January- March) 2023

Original Articles

Incidence of Nocturnal Hypoglycemia in Type II Diabetes Patients with Normal Hba1c, Attending A Teritary Care Medical College Hospital in South India
Dr. Judith Susan John, Dr. Antony Paul, Dr Joel Tobin, Dr.Keerthy Maria Martin, Dr.Edwin J George

Background: Diabetes mellitus is a non-communicable disease that has a high prevalence in our country and is known for causing both microvascular and macrovascular complications, especially in patients with uncontrolled HbA1C. Since the beginning of clinical use in the 1970s, hemoglobinA1c (A1c) has become the standard tool for monitoring glycemic control in patients with diabetes. The role of the A1c test was broadened in 2010, when the American Diabetes Association added A1c as a diagnostic criterion for diabetes. Because of hemoglobinA1c’s integral role in diagnosis and treatment, it is important to recognize clinical scenarios and interfering factors that yield false results1. HbA1C has been traditionally done in patients with diabetes to assess the previous three months' average glycemic control. But it has got its pitfalls. A patient with hyperglycemic and hypoglycemic episodes can have a normal HbA1C because HbA1c shows just an average value. A normal HbA1c doesn’t mean that the patient was in a euglycemic state for the past three months. Both intra-day and inter-day variability in blood glucose levels can contribute significantly to HbA1C levels. Nocturnal hypoglycemia is usually missed because most of the patients are not trained to check for blood sugar values during sleeping hours. Quite often, patients with normal HbA1c are found to have a high incidence of nocturnal hypoglycemia; especially those who are on twice daily premixed insulin. Even with the use of insulin pumps and long-acting insulin analogs, severe hypoglycemia is common in patients with type 1 diabetes, especially during sleep at night. In the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial, more than half of severe hypoglycemic events occurred during sleep (1), and other studies have shown an even greater incidence of severe nocturnal hypoglycemic events in type 1 diabetes (2). Moreover, Sovik and Thordarson (3) reported that among patients aged <40 years who died over 10 years period, 6% of the deaths were due to “dead-in-bed” syndrome, which in many instances probably was the result of severe nocturnal hypoglycemia. Delayed glucose-lowering effects of afternoon exercise (4), sleep-induced defects in counterregulatory hormone responses to hypoglycemia (5–7), and missed bedtime snacks (8) are among the contributing causes of severe nocturnal hypoglycemic events. Aim: To find the incidence of nocturnal hypoglycemia in type 2 diabetes patients with normal HbA1C levels Objectives • To find the incidence of nocturnal hypoglycemias in patients with normal HbA1C (<7%). • To detect asymptomatic nocturnal hypoglycemias and its contribution to HbA1C in patients who have normal HbA1C. • To pick up nocturnal phenomena like dawns and the Somogyi phenomenon. Methods: A total of 100 patients between 18-60 years under both OP and IP care were examined, after excluding patients with known conditions that can falsely elevate or bring down the HbA1C levels like anemia, uremia, severe hypertriglyceridemia, severe hyperbilirubinemia, pregnancy, hemolyticanemia, splenomegaly, and chronic alcoholics. A detailed history of the patient was taken including the treatment history to know the duration of the disease and proper drug compliance. All the patients enrolled in our study were monitored for two weeks by attaching an Abbott Freestyle Libre Pro CGMS device onto the patient’s left arm posterior aspect. After the completion of two weeks with CGMS, the sensor was removed from the patient's body and subjected to assessment and processing of AGP (Ambulatory glucose profile). Results: At least one episode of nocturnal hypoglycemia was detected in 28 patients and 9 of the total 28 patients had prolonged hypoglycemia lasting for more than 2 hours. A higher incidence of nocturnal hypoglycemia was seen among the patients who were on insulin, especially pre-mixed insulin. Conclusion: A high prevalence (28%) of nocturnal hypoglycemia including asymptomatic hypoglycemias was seen in even patients with normal HbA1C levels and approximately 10% of the total patients had TIR above 95%.

 
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