[Decreased consciousness of hypoglycaemia and the incidence of severe hypoglycaemia in children and adolescents with diabetes type 1].

UNLABELLED: Maintaining good metabolic control is connected with an increasing risk of hypoglycaemia, which is the most frequent and most dangerous side effect of intensive insulin therapy. The results of the DCCT trial revealed that the intensification in insulin therapy increases three-fold the risk of severe hypoglycaemia. Severe hypoglycaemia was defined by loose of consciousness, coma and/or convulsions. Feeling the state of hypoglycaemia is the basic defensive mechanism in patients with diabetes type 1, making possible to start the self treatment. The decreased consciousness of hypoglycaemia makes limitations to the intensive insulin- therapy, the main aim of which is to stop later complications. The aim of the study was to evaluate the incidence of severe hypoglycaemia during a 5 yrs period, the attempt to find the reason and correlations between severe hypoglycaemia and decreased consciousness of feeling this state in children and adolescents with diabetes type 1.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study was carried out on 280 patients aged x=13.1 yrs (2.2-18.6), suffering from diabetes, mean duration 7 yrs (2.0-13.9). The study was retrospective, taking into consideration the period from 1.01.1995 to 31.12.2000.

RESULTS: During the analysed period we noticed 48 cases of severe hypoglycaemia in 31 patients (21 boys and 10 girls), mean age 13.8 yrs, with diabetes duration about 7 yrs. Every tenth patient had severe hypoglycaemia. Mean level of HbA1c was little lower in children with episode of severe hypoglycaemia (7.2%) than in patients without it (7.9%). The frequency of episodes of severe hypoglycaemia increased with the duration of the disease. The dose of insulin per day did not differ between groups. In patients with severe hypoglicaemias only 5 were treated with use of Humalog. In 38 (81%), severe hypoglycaemias occurred between 1-3 o'clock a.m., 4 (1.9%) in the early morning and 6 (2.88%) in late evening hours. Only in 9 cases the reason for severe hypoglycaemia was found. 11 patients had at least twice incidents of severe hypoglycaemia and 7 of them (63%) did not feel the signs of the decreasing glycaemia level.

CONCLUSIONS: The lack of consciousness of hypoglycaemia is connected with the increased frequency of severe hypoglycaemia in children and adolescents with diabetes type 1.