Healthcare professionals are being urged to be more aware of hypoglycaemia after figures showed that a significant number of inpatients with diabetes experienced an episode during their hospital stay.
Hypoglycaemia – frequently referred to as a hypo – occurs when there is too much insulin and not enough sugar, or glucose, in the blood. Hypoglycaemia is defined as blood sugar below 72 milligrams per decilitre (mg/dL), or 4.0 millimoles per litre (mmol/L).
Diabetes Audit
Hypos can be caused for a number of reasons, including taking too much insulin, skipping meals or taking sudden, unplanned exercise.
Left untreated, hypoglycaemia can lead to confusion, blurred vision, dizziness and even loss of consciousness and coma.
Diabetes UK says figures from the latest National Diabetes Inpatient Audit of England and Wales show that 27% of people with type 1 diabetes – the type requiring insulin treatment – had a severe hypo during a hospital stay. The highest proportion of episodes – 30% – occurred after 5 in the morning and before 9 am.
The charity’s analysis of the audit found that 46% of people with diabetes treated with insulin had a medication error relating to their insulin and other diabetes medication.
Some patients with type 1 diabetes experienced a life-threatening condition called diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), due to blood glucose levels being too high ( hyperglycaemia). It usually occurs when there is a lack of insulin in the body, which means it cannot use glucose for energy and starts to break down other body tissue as an alternative energy source. About 4% of patients with type 1 diabetes developed DKA, because they had not been given sufficient insulin.
Serious Consequences
Douglas Twenefour, deputy head of care at Diabetes UK, says in a statement: “Hypoglycaemia can be very serious if left untreated. It is vital healthcare professionals are aware of patients who are at risk of hypos, and put in place appropriate measures to support people with diabetes to prevent and treat them whilst in hospital or in a clinical setting.
“Too many hypos happen at night, which is completely unacceptable. Hospitals need to put in place practical ways to prevent these from happening, including making bedtime snacks available for appropriate patients with diabetes.”
Professor Gerry Rayman, a clinical lead for Diabetes UK, comments: “Although most people with diabetes can readily identify when their blood glucose levels are low, when they are in hospital certain situations such as severe illness, some medications, confusion and after anaesthesia their ability to detect hypoglycaemia may be impaired, increasing their risk of going into a hypoglycaemic coma. For this reason, it is important for health care professionals to be aware of the signs and symptoms of hypoglycaemia and look out for them.”
It is estimated that more than 4 million people in the UK have diabetes. About 10% of people with diabetes have type 1.
SOURCES:
Diabetes UK
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar