For the first time, researchers have demonstrated that patients with type 1 diabetes experience slowing of brain function and other short-term symptoms from hyperglycemia.
University of Virginia researchers studied 105 adults with type 1 diabetes. The patients performed mental subtractions and were given verbal fluency and multiple-choice reaction-time tests. They also rated the prevalence of four symptoms, including being tired or sleepy and needing to urinate, and recorded their blood glucose levels on a hand-held computer 82 times during 4 weeks. The results of the study were presented in June at the annual meeting of the American Diabetes Association.
Researchers found that all four symptoms steadily increased as blood glucose levels increased. Verbal fluency and mental arithmetic ability slowed as blood glucose rose above 270 mg/dL (15.0 mmol/L).
Traditionally, experts didn't think hyperglycemia had acute effects, said Daniel J. Cox, PhD, head of the University of Virginia Center . . . [Full Text of this Article]
