Continuous monitoring of blood sugar in brittle diabetics

Abstract

The blood glucose was measured continuously for periods of up to twenty-nine hours in five patients. The method, which does not require heparinization of the patient, is described. - Three unstable diabetics were investigated. In two, diabetic control was considerably improved as a result of alterations made to their therapeutic regime following this investigation. The symptoms of the third diabetic patient were due to complications of diabetes rather than to the disease itself. - The results in these three patients are contrasted with those obtained in two acromegalics (one of whom was also diabetic). Attention is drawn to the occurrence of fasting hyperglycaemia in the early hours of the morning in the brittle diabetics and to the rapidity with which the blood glucose rises. It is thought that growth hormone is not directly responsible for this hyperglycaemia, since marked insulin sensitivity is maintained. © 1970 Springer-Verlag.