The Barrier of Hypoglycemia in Diabetes

Glycemic control, a worthwhile goal for people with diabetes, is limited by the barrier of iatrogenic hypoglycemia (1). Iatrogenic hypoglycemia 1 ) causes recurrent morbidity in most people with type 1 diabetes and many with advanced type 2 diabetes and is sometimes fatal, 2 ) compromises physiological and behavioral defenses against subsequent falling plasma glucose concentrations and thus causes a vicious cycle of recurrent hypoglycemia, and 3 ) precludes maintenance of euglycemia over a lifetime of diabetes and therefore full realization of the vascular benefits of glycemic control. The premise of this “Perspective in Diabetes” is that insight into the pathophysiology of glucose counterregulation in…

• AD
  American Diabetes Association
• NI
  National Institutes of Health

  Awards: RR00036, T32 DK07120, P60 DK20579, DK20579
• UP
  U.S. Public Health Service