Taking a really small dose of glucagon — the hormone that’s used to boost blood glucose when it will get dangerously low — earlier than exercising led to a diminished threat of hypoglycemia (low blood glucose) in adults with kind 1 diabetes, in response to a brand new research revealed within the journal Diabetes Care.
Many individuals with diabetes — particularly kind 1 diabetes — are conversant in glucagon as a part of an emergency injection package for extreme hypoglycemia. On this format, glucagon might come as a prefilled syringe that’s used when an individual can not safely take a meals, beverage, or glucose pill to boost blood glucose ranges. However researchers have more and more been serious about exploring glucagon as a preventive therapy for hypoglycemia, taken in a smaller dose than is used for emergency therapy of hypoglycemia. Whereas it isn’t all the time potential to know whenever you’re in danger for hypoglycemia, one scenario through which hypoglycemia is extra possible for many individuals with diabetes is throughout or following train. You might be able to cut back your threat for hypoglycemia associated to train by doing sure sorts of actions at sure occasions of the day, through the use of a steady glucose monitoring (CGM) system, or by ensuring your total diabetes therapy technique isn’t too aggressive.
For the most recent research, researchers recruited adults with kind 1 diabetes to have a look at the impact of taking glucagon earlier than moderate- to high-intensity cardio train. A complete of 45 individuals accomplished the research, which included being randomly assigned to one in every of three completely different therapy arms. Therapy arm A consisted of taking 150 micrograms of glucagon instantly earlier than train, plus lowering the basal insulin supply price on an insulin pump by 50% all through train. Therapy arm B consisted of taking a placebo (inactive injection) as an alternative of glucagon whereas additionally lowering basal insulin supply, and therapy arm C consisted of taking glucagon with out lowering basal insulin supply. All individuals went by means of an in-clinic coaching section earlier than finishing their assigned therapy of their day-to-day lives, throughout a interval that lasted 12 weeks. They had been instructed to do train periods lasting between 30 and 75 minutes in no matter setting they most well-liked.
Glucagon therapy linked to decrease price of exercise-related hypoglycemia
Throughout the primary real-world section of the research, individuals accomplished a complete of 795 train periods. The researchers discovered that primarily based on individuals’ glucose self-monitoring, degree 1 hypoglycemia (under 70 mg/dl) was much less widespread in each of the glucagon therapy arms. The speed of degree 1 hypoglycemia throughout train periods was 12% for arm A (glucagon plus basal insulin discount) and 16% for arm C (glucagon with out basal insulin discount). For arm B (placebo injection plus basal insulin discount), the speed of degree 1 hypoglycemia was 39%. There have been no important variations between the therapy arms for different outcomes, together with time spent under the goal glucose vary, time in vary, or time above vary throughout a 300-minute interval beginning with the glucagon or placebo injection.
The researchers additionally discovered that individuals consumed much less glucose throughout or following train after they took glucagon beforehand, however not by a statistically important quantity. The speed of reported antagonistic occasions was comparable in every of the therapy arms, suggesting that taking glucagon earlier than train didn’t carry an elevated threat for disagreeable or harmful uncomfortable side effects.
The researchers concluded that taking a mini-dose of glucagon earlier than cardio train, with or with out lowering basal insulin supply, might assist adults with kind 1 diabetes cut back the chance of exercise-associated hypoglycemia. Future research might make clear the optimum dose of glucagon to scale back the chance for hypoglycemia throughout train, whereas limiting any spike in glucose that would outcome from taking the hormone.
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