Fear of hypoglycemia and its determinants in insulin-treated patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the prevalence of fear of hypoglycemia, in association with severe hypoglycemia and social factors, in insulin-treated patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. A questionnaire survey on hypoglycemia and patient-physician communication was carried out in 355 patients with insulin-treated type 2 diabetes mellitus patients at 16 hospitals and clinics. A fear of hypoglycemia was reported by 27.7% of patients. A stepwise logistic regression analysis found that severe hypoglycemia during the past 1 year was a significant determinant of fear of hypoglycemia (odds ratio 2.16, 95% confidence interval 1.06-4.41; P = 0.034), and age (odds ratio 1.02, 95% confidence interval 1.00-1.05, P = 0.038) and living alone (odds ratio 1.93, 95% confidence interval 1.00-3.73, P < 0.05) were significantly higher in patients with fear of hypoglycemia than in those without it.

Glucagon underutilized among type 1 diabetes mellitus patients in Japan.

AIM: Glucagon is recommended to treat severe hypoglycemia in nonhospital environments, when a patient with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) is unconscious and unable to eat or drink. However, the actual possession rate of glucagon in Japan has not been investigated. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: We recruited 208 T1DM patients older than 15 years of age. The patients were treated at 16 hospitals and clinics in different regions of Japan. Answers were obtained using a self-administered questionnaire about the possession, the experience of usage, and the preference to possess glucagon after reading what is glucagon and when it is used. A stepwise logistic regression analysis was performed to assess the influence of various factors on the possession of glucagon. RESULTS: The possession rate of glucagon was 15.9%, and the rate of those who had experience of using glucagon to treat severe hypoglycemia was 6.0%. The rate of preference to possess glucagon at home after reading the description of glucagon was 39.0%. The possession of glucagon was significantly associated with results of the Glucagon Knowledge Test (odds ratio=24.1; 95% confidence interval, 3.2-183.3; P=0.002) and the history of severe hypoglycemia within 1 year (odds ratio=4.8; 95% confidence interval, 2.0-12.0; P=0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Glucagon as a measure to treat severe hypoglycemia was underutilized among T1DM patients in Japan.

The effect of long-term treatment with sulindac on the progression of diabetic retinopathy.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effects of long-term treatment with sulindac on the progression of diabetic retinopathy (DR). RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: 40 Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes were enrolled in a randomized, single-blind controlled trial in which the effects of sulindac (200 mg/day, 100 mg twice a day; n = 16 patients) on the progression of DR were compared to controls (24 patients) for 3 years. All patients were comparable in their age, gender, duration of disease, body mass index, dipstick proteinuria, insulin therapy, glycemic control, and clinical stages of DR. Outcome was determined by comparing parameters of retinopathy in fundus photographs that were taken at time 0 to those taken 1, 2, and 3 years after the initiation of treatment. RESULTS: Patients in the sulindac group did not develop DR during the course of treatment nor was there progression of pathology in those who began the study with mild non-proliferative DR (NPDR). On the other hand, six patients progressed to mild NPDR in the control group--three at year 1 and three at year 3--and an additional patient progressed to severe NPDR from mild NPDR by year 1 and to proliferative DR by year 2. The findings at year 3 in the sulindac group were significantly (p < 0.05) different from the control group. None of the patients experienced any adverse effects of treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Long-term treatment with sulindac was clinically effective in decreasing the progression of mild DR in type 2 diabetic patients in this pilot study.

Normal mortality in the elderly with diabetes under strict glycemic and blood pressure control: outcome of 6-year prospective study.

Mortality, macroangiopathic events and end-stage renal disease (ESRD) in the elderly under long-term, intensive multifactorial diabetes control were prospectively investigated. Three hundred and eighty-eight elderly patients (> or =65 years) with type 2 diabetes (the mean age 72.9 years, men/women ratio 176/212) were followed-up for 6 years with HbA1c 7.0%, BP 145/80 mmHg and total cholesterol<240 mg/dl as targets. The mean baseline HbA1c was 6.8%, BP 137/74 mmHg and total cholesterol 196 mg/dl, and corresponding values upon closing 6.9%, 134/72 mmHg and 188 mg/dl respectively. Mortality rate was 19.6%/6 years (1.01 times that of age- and sex-matched general population), and macroangiopathic events developed in 142 (36.6%) and ESRD in 9 (2.3%). Independent risk factors: low glomerular filtration rate (GFR) (P<0.001), prior stroke (P=0.002), age (P=0.001) and DeltaBMI (P=0.001) for mortality; prior stroke (P<0.001) and coronary events (P=0.042), high LDL-cholesterol (P=0.004), low GFR (P=0.028), and past maximum BMI (P=0.032) and age (P=0.019) for macroangiopathy; low GFR (P<0.001) for ESRD. No smoking was an independent protective factor for mortality (P=0.008). In conclusion, normal mortality was attained in the elderly under intensive mutifactorial diabetes control. Renal dysfunction, prior stroke, high LDL-cholesterol, and prior obesity were prominent risks for mortality, macroangiopathy and/or ESRD.

Development, worsening, and improvement of diabetic microangiopathy in older people: six-year prospective study of patients under intensive diabetes control.

OBJECTIVES: To examine retinopathy and nephropathy in elderly patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) under intensive multifactorial DM control. DESIGN: Six-year interventional observation study. SETTING: Multicenter study including four hospitals. PARTICIPANTS: Four hundred thirteen elderly (> or = 65) patients with type 2 DM attending each hospital for 1 year or longer; those receiving hemodialysis or with uncured malignancy were excluded. MEASUREMENTS: Development, worsening, and improvement of retinopathy and nephropathy and respective risk factors. RESULTS: The mean baseline hemoglobin (HbA1c), blood pressure (BP), and total cholesterol were 6.8%, 137/74 mmHg, and 5.13 mmol/L, respectively. Retinopathy developed in 45 of 168 (27%) patients and, of 63 with nonproliferative retinopathy, worsened and improved in 11 (17%) and 23 (37%), respectively. Nephropathy developed in 53 of 227 (23%) patients and improved in 13 of 51 (25%) having it baseline. The mean change in glomerular filtration rate (DeltaGFR, baseline GFR-GFR at the end of the study period) in those with nephropathy at baseline was 21.5 mL/min. HbA1c was related to development of retinopathy (P=.001, odds ratio (OR)=1.91), and serum creatinine (P=.03, OR=1.02), systolic BP (SBP) (P=.03, OR=1.22), and prior stroke (P=.005, OR=3.21) were related to development of nephropathy. In patients with nephropathy at baseline, SBP (P=.03, Spearman's rho (rho)=0.310), total cholesterol (P=.01, rho=0.361), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (P=.03, rho=0.322) were correlated with DeltaGFR. CONCLUSION: In elderly patients under intensive control for DM, the outcome of microangiopathy is favorable. Modifiable risk factors were hyperglycemia for development of retinopathy and hypertension and hypercholesterolemia for development or worsening of nephropathy; prior stroke was an unmodifiable risk factor for development of nephropathy.

Prospective analysis of mortality, morbidity, and risk factors in elderly diabetic subjects: Nagano study.

OBJECTIVE: To clarify mortality and morbidity of intensively managed elderly diabetic individuals and to explore factors predicting mortality and diabetes-related end points. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: A total of 390 elderly (>or=65 years of age) outpatients with type 2 diabetes ( 173 men and 217 women, mean age 73.0 years) were analyzed. The mean HbA(1c) upon entry was 6.8% (332 receiving oral hypoglycemics and/or insulin) and blood pressure upon entry was 136/74 mmHg (219 receiving antihypertensive drugs). The patients have been followed-up for 3 years with HbA(1c) <7.0% and blood pressure <145/80 mmHg as targets, with mortality and an aggregate of fatal and nonfatal diabetes-related events as end points. Mortality rate and causes of mortality, as well as risk factors for mortality and morbidity, were determined. RESULTS: The mortality rate, 2.9% per year, was comparable to that of the age- and sex-matched general population. Stroke was a leading cause of mortality after malignancy. By the univariate Cox proportional hazards model, only high serum creatinine and prior stroke were highly significant and strong risks for both end points. In those without prior stroke and receiving antihypertensive agents, the incidence of the diabetes-related end point based on their systolic blood pressure (SBP) quartile was U-shaped, with the nadir at the 3rd (SBP, 137-147 mmHg) and the peak at the 1st (SBP