The goal of diabetes treatment is the maintenance of an adequate metabolic control to prevent or delay the development of complications. However, therapeutic efforts to keep the values of glycated hemoglobin within the recommended target in many cases lead to an increased risk of hypoglycemia. Hypoglycemic episodes, especially the severe ones, are responsible for a relevant clinical, social and economic impact. From the clinical standpoint, physical morbidity of an episode of hypoglycemia ranges from unpleasant symptoms to seizure and coma; rarely, it causes sudden, presumably cardiac arrhythmic death or, if it is profound and prolonged, brain death. Severe hypoglycemia is associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease, as confirmed by a recent meta-analysis, and dementia. Not only severe hypoglycemia but also mild symptomatic hypoglycemia is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular events, all-cause hospitalization, and all-cause mortality. From the social point of view, several studies have investigated the impact of hypoglycemia on quality of life, suggesting a negative impact on mental well-being and on the overall self-perception of general health status. Hypoglycemia can disrupt many everyday activities such as driving, work performance and recreational pursuits. In addition, fear of hypoglycemia prevails over fear of long-term complications and is often responsible for poor adherence to therapy or incorrect behaviors of compensation; the latter in turn are responsible for worse metabolic control
Maria Chiara Rossi, Incidence and Correlates of Hypoglycemia in Type 2 Diabetes. The Hypos-1 Study
Last date updated on September, 2024