Hypoglikemia
Hypoglikemia
Hypoglikemia
S T A T E M E N T
OBJECTIVEdTo review the evidence about the impact of hypoglycemia on patients with
diabetes that has become available since the past reviews of this subject by the American Diabetes
Association and The Endocrine Society and to provide guidance about how this new information
should be incorporated into clinical practice.
PARTICIPANTSdFive members of the American Diabetes Association and ve members of
The Endocrine Society with expertise in different aspects of hypoglycemia were invited by the Chair,
who is a member of both, to participate in a planning conference call and a 2-day meeting that was
also attended by staff from both organizations. Subsequent communications took place via e-mail
and phone calls. The writing group consisted of those invitees who participated in the writing of the
manuscript. The workgroup meeting was supported by educational grants to the American Diabetes
Association from Lilly USA, LLC and Novo Nordisk and sponsorship to the American Diabetes
Association from Sano. The sponsors had no input into the development of or content of the report.
EVIDENCEdThe writing group considered data from recent clinical trials and other studies to
update the prior workgroup report. Unpublished data were not used. Expert opinion was used to
develop some conclusions.
CONSENSUS PROCESSdConsensus was achieved by group discussion during conference calls and face-to-face meetings, as well as by iterative revisions of the written document. The
document was reviewed and approved by the American Diabetes Associations Professional
Practice Committee in October 2012 and approved by the Executive Committee of the Board
of Directors in November 2012 and was reviewed and approved by The Endocrine Societys
Clinical Affairs Core Committee in October 2012 and by Council in November 2012.
CONCLUSIONSdThe workgroup reconrmed the previous denitions of hypoglycemia in
diabetes, reviewed the implications of hypoglycemia on both short- and long-term outcomes,
considered the implications of hypoglycemia on treatment outcomes, presented strategies to
prevent hypoglycemia, and identied knowledge gaps that should be addressed by future research. In addition, tools for patients to report hypoglycemia at each visit and for clinicians to
document counseling are provided.
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require that POC meters analytical accuracy be within 20% of the actual value in
95% of samples with glucose levels $75
mg/dL and 615 mg/dL for samples
with glucose ,75 mg/dL. Despite this relatively large permissible variation, Freckmann et al. (16) found that only 15 of 27
meters on the market in Europe several
years ago met the current analytical standards of 615 mg/dL in the hypoglycemia
range, 2 of 27 met 610 mg/dL, and none
were capable of measuring 65 mg/dL.
The need for accurate meters in the
,75 mg/dL range is essential in insulintreated patients, whether they are outpatients or inpatients, but it is less important
in those outpatients who are on medications that rarely cause hypoglycemia. In
critical care units, where the accuracy of
POC meters is particularly crucial, their
performance may be compromised by
medications (vasopressors, acetaminophen), treatments (oxygen), and clinical
states (hypotension, anemia) (17). Karon
et al. (18) translated these measurement
errors into potential insulin-dosing errors
using simulation modeling and found
that if there were a total measurement
error of 20%, 1- and 2-step errors in insulin dose would occur 45% and 6% of
the time, respectively, in a tight glycemic
control protocol. Such imprecision may
affect the safe implementation of insulin
infusion protocols in critical care units
and may account in part for the high hypoglycemia rates in most trials of inpatient intensive glycemic control.
Retrospective and real-time CGMs
represent an evolving technology that
has made considerable progress in overall
(point 1 rate) accuracy. However, the accuracy of CGMs in the hypoglycemic
range is poor as demonstrated by error
grid analysis (19,20). With existing realtime CGMs, accuracy can be achieved
in only 6073% of samples in the range
of 4080 mg/dL (21,22). Because the accuracy of CGMs, like POC meters, is negatively affected by multiple factors in
hospitalized patients and they are calibrated with POC meters affected by those
same factors, CGMs are not recommended
for glycemic management in hospitalized
patients at this time (17).
What are the implications
of hypoglycemia on both
short- and long-term
outcomes in people with
diabetes?dIatrogenic hypoglycemia
is more frequent in patients with profound
endogenous insulin deciencydtype
DIABETES CARE, VOLUME 36, MAY 2013
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1 diabetes and advanced type 2 diabetesdand its incidence increases with the
duration of diabetes (23). It is caused by
treatment with a sulfonylurea, glinide, or
insulin and occurs about two to three
times more frequently in type 1 diabetes
than in type 2 diabetes (23,24). Event rates
for severe hypoglycemia for patients with
type 1 diabetes range from 115 (24) to 320
(23) per 100 patient-years. Severe hypoglycemia in patients with type 2 diabetes
has been shown to occur at rates of 35 (24)
to 70 (23) per 100 patient-years. However,
because type 2 diabetes is much more
prevalent than type 1 diabetes, most episodes of hypoglycemia, including severe
hypoglycemia, occur in people with type
2 diabetes (25).
There is no doubt that hypoglycemia
can be fatal (26). In addition to case reports of hypoglycemic deaths in patients
with type 1 and type 2 diabetes, four recent reports of mortality rates in series of
patients indicate that 4% (27), 6% (28),
7% (29), and 10% (30) of deaths of patients with type 1 diabetes were caused by
hypoglycemia. A temporal relationship
between extremely low subcutaneous
glucose concentrations and death in a
patient with type 1 diabetes who was
wearing a CGM device and was found
dead in bed has been reported (31). Although profound and prolonged hypoglycemia can cause brain death, most
episodes of fatal hypoglycemia are probably the result of other mechanisms, such
as ventricular arrhythmias (26). In this
section, we will consider the effects of
hypoglycemia on the development of hypoglycemia unawareness and how iatrogenic hypoglycemia may affect outcomes
in specic patient groups.
Hypoglycemia unawareness and
hypoglycemia-associated autonomic
failure
Acute hypoglycemia in patients with diabetes can lead to confusion, loss of
consciousness, seizures, and even death,
but how a particular patient responds to a
drop in glucose appears to depend on
how frequently that patient experiences
hypoglycemia. Recurrent hypoglycemia
has been shown to reduce the glucose level
that precipitates the counterregulatory
response necessary to restore euglycemia
during a subsequent episode of hypoglycemia (1012). As a result, patients with
frequent hypoglycemia do not experience
the symptoms from the adrenergic response to a fall in glucose until the blood
glucose reaches lower and lower levels. For
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diabetes as is often seen in the elderly patient, the glucagon response to hypoglycemia is virtually absent (55). The
intensication of glycemic control in the
elderly patient is associated with an increased reduction in the plasma glucose
thresholds for epinephrine release and for
the appearance of hypoglycemia (56). As a
result, changes in the level of glycemic control have a marked impact on the risk of
developing hypoglycemia in the elderly.
Older adults with diabetes have a
disproportionately high number of clinical complications and comorbidities, all
of which can be exacerbated by and
sometimes contribute to episodes of hypoglycemia. Older adults with diabetes
are at much higher risk for the geriatric
syndrome, which includes falls, incontinence, frailty, cognitive impairment, and
depressive symptoms (57). The cognitive
and executive dysfunction associated
with the geriatric syndrome interferes
with the patients ability to perform selfcare activities appropriately and follow
the treatment regimen (58).
To minimize the risk of hypoglycemia
in the elderly, careful education regarding
the symptoms and treatment of hypoglycemia, with regular reinforcement, is extremely important because of the
recognized gaps in the knowledge base
of these individuals (59). In addition, it is
important to assess the elderly for functional status as part of the overall clinical
assessment in order to properly apply
individualized glycemic control goals.
Arbitrary short-acting insulin sliding
scales, which are used much too often in
long-term care facilities (60), should be
avoided, and glyburide should be discontinued in favor of shorter-acting insulin
secretagogues or medications that do
not cause hypoglycemia. The recently
published 2012 Beers list of prohibited
medications in long-term care facilities
specically lists insulin sliding scales
and glyburide as treatment modalities
that should be avoided (61). Complex
regimens requiring multiple decision
points should be simplied, especially
for patients with decreased functional status. In addition, caregivers and staff in
long-term care facilities need to be educated on the causes and risks of hypoglycemia and the proper surveillance and
treatment of this condition.
Impact of hypoglycemia on
hospitalized patients
Persons with diabetes are three times
more likely to be hospitalized than those
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hypoglycemia occurs 35 times more frequently in the rst trimester and at a lower
rate in the third trimester when compared
with the incidence in the year preceding the
pregnancy (80). Risk factors for severe hypoglycemia in pregnancy include a history
of severe hypoglycemia in the preceding
year, impaired hypoglycemia awareness,
long duration of diabetes, low HbA 1c
in early pregnancy, uctuating plasma
glucose levels, and excessive use of supplementary insulin between meals. Surprisingly, nausea and vomiting during
pregnancy did not appear to add signicant
risk. When pregnant and nonpregnant
women are compared with CGM, mild hypoglycemia (dened by the authors as
blood glucose ,60 mg/dL) is more common in all pregnant women, but equally
so regardless of whether or not they have
diabetes, either pregestational or gestational (81). Hypoglycemia is generally
without risk for the fetus as long as the
mother avoids injury during the episode.
For women with preexisting diabetes, insulin requirements rise throughout the
pregnancy and then drop precipitously at
the time of delivery of the placenta, requiring an abrupt reduction in insulin dosing to
avoid postdelivery hypoglycemia. Breastfeeding may also be a risk factor for hypoglycemia in women with insulin-treated
diabetes (82).
Impact of hypoglycemia on quality of
life and activities of daily living
Hypoglycemia and the fear of hypoglycemia have a signicant impact on qualityof-life measures in patients with both type
1 and type 2 diabetes (83). Nocturnal hypoglycemia in particular may impact
ones sense of well-being on the following
day because of its impact on sleep quantity and quality (84). Patients with recurrent hypoglycemia have been found to
have chronic mood disorders including
depression and anxiety (85,86), although
it is hard to establish cause and effect between hypoglycemia and mood changes.
Interpersonal relationships may suffer
as a result of hypoglycemia in patients
with diabetes. In-depth interviews of a
small group of otherwise healthy young
adults with type 1 diabetes revealed the
presence of interpersonal conict including fears of dependency and loss of control. These adults also reported difculty
talking about issues related to hypoglycemia with signicant others (87). This difculty may carry over to their work life,
where hypoglycemia has been linked to
reduced productivity (88). Hypoglycemia
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need to be less aggressive. While the benets of achieving an HbA1c of ,7% may
continue to be advocated for patients with
type 2 diabetes at risk for microvascular
complications and with sufcient life expectancy, less aggressive targets may be
appropriate in those with known cardiovascular disease, extensive comorbidities,
or limited life expectancy.
Older individuals with gait imbalance
and frailty may experience a life-changing
injury if they fall during a hypoglycemia
episode, so avoiding hypoglycemia is
paramount in such patients. Patients
with cognitive dysfunction may have
difculty adhering to a complicated treatment strategy designed to achieve a low
HbA1c (48). Such patients will benet
from a simplication of the treatment
strategy with a goal to prevent hypoglycemia as much as possible. Furthermore,
the benets of aggressive glycemic therapy in those affected are unclear.
What strategies are known
to prevent hypoglycemia,
and what are the clinical
recommendations for those
at risk for hypoglycemia?d
Recurrent hypoglycemia increases the
risk of severe hypoglycemia and the development of hypoglycemia unawareness
and HAAF. Effective approaches known
to decrease the risk of iatrogenic hypoglycemia include patient education,
dietary and exercise modications, medication adjustment, careful glucose monitoring by the patient, and conscientious
surveillance by the clinician.
Patient education
There is limited research related to the
inuence of self-management education
on the incidence or prevention of hypoglycemia. However, there is clear evidence that diabetes education improves
patient outcomes (9799). As part of the
educational plan, the individual with diabetes and his or her domestic companions need to recognize the symptoms of
hypoglycemia and be able to treat a hypoglycemic episode properly with oral carbohydrates or glucagon. Hypoglycemia,
including its risk factors and remediation, should be discussed routinely
with patients receiving treatment with
insulin or sulfonylurea/glinide drugs, especially those with a history of recurrent
hypoglycemia or impaired awareness of
hypoglycemia. In addition, patients
must understand how their medications
work so they can minimize the risk of
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without clear consensus (108112).
These conicting reports suggest that
the administration of bedtime snacks
may need to be individualized and be
part of a comprehensive strategy (balanced diet, patient education, optimized
drug regimens, and physical activity
counseling) for the prevention of nocturnal hypoglycemia.
Exercise management
Physical activity increases glucose utilization, which increases the risk of hypoglycemia. The risk factors for exertional
hypoglycemia include prolonged exercise duration, unaccustomed exercise
intensity, and inadequate energy supply
in relation to ambient insulinemia
(113,114). Postexertional hypoglycemia
can be prevented or minimized by careful
glucose monitoring before and after exercise and taking appropriate preemptive
actions. Preexercise snacks should be ingested if blood glucose values indicate
falling glucose levels. Patients with diabetes should carry readily absorbable carbohydrates when embarking on exercise,
including sporadic house or yard work.
Because of the kinetics of rapid-acting
and intermediate-acting insulin, it may
be prudent to empirically adjust insulin
doses on the days of planned exercise, especially in patients with well-controlled
diabetes with a history of exercise-related
hypoglycemia.
Medication adjustment
Hypoglycemic episodes that are not readily explained by conventional factors
(skipped or irregular meals, unaccustomed exercise, alcohol ingestion, etc.)
may be due to excessive doses of drugs
used to treat diabetes. A thorough review
of blood glucose patterns may suggest
vulnerable periods of the day that mandate adjustments to the current antidiabetes regimen. Such adjustments may
include substitution of rapid-acting insulin (lispro, aspart, glulisine) for regular
insulin, or basal insulin glargine or detemir for NPH, to decrease the risk of
hypoglycemia. Continuous subcutaneous
insulin infusion offers great exibility
for adjusting the doses and administration pattern of insulin to counteract
iatrogenic hypoglycemia (115). For patients with type 2 diabetes, sulfonylureas
are the oral agents that pose the greatest
risk for iatrogenic hypoglycemia and
substitution with other classes of oral
agents or even glucagon-like peptide 1
analogs should be considered in the
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Table 3dHypoglycemia Provider Checklist
Name _____________________________________________________________________
First
Middle
Last
Todays date __________
1. __ Reviewed the Hypoglycemia Patient Questionnaire
2. __ Questioned the patient about circumstances surrounding severe or moderate hypoglycemia
3. __ Discussed strategies to avoid hypoglycemia with the patient
4. __ Made medication changes where clinically appropriate
5. __ Recommended carrying snack and/or glucose tablets where appropriate and provided
instructions for how to use them (take 15 g glucose, wait 15 min, and remeasure blood glucose;
repeat if hypoglycemia persists). A 1-page patient handout on treating hypoglycemia is
available at http://clinical.diabetesjournals.org/content/30/1/38
6. __ Prescribed glucagon if appropriate
outcomes such as mortality and longterm outcomes such as cognitive dysfunction need to be better dened, and
the mechanisms for these associations
need to be understood. Focused research in these priority areas will address
our knowledge gaps about hypoglycemia
and ultimately reduce the impact of iatrogenic hypoglycemia on patients with
diabetes.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
AcknowledgmentsdThe workgroup meeting was supported by educational grants to the
American Diabetes Association from Lilly
USA, LLC and Novo Nordisk and sponsorship
to the American Diabetes Association from
Sano. The sponsors had no input into the
development of or content of the report. No
other potential conicts of interest relevant to
this article were reported.
The workgroup members thank Stephanie
Kutler and Meredith Dyer of The Endocrine
Society and Sue Kirkman, MD, of the American
Diabetes Association for staff support.
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