Using Glucose Sensors to Prevent Hypoglycemia

Hypoglycemia is the most common complication of Type 1 diabetes particularly in those who strive for good glycemic control. In some patients there is a loss of awareness of hypoglycaemia so that the first manifestation of hypoglycaemia may be confusion or coma. Such a situation may carry risks that the patient may harm him or her self. Medtronic has recently developed a continuous glucose sensor that determines the glucose level every 3 minutes using a subcutaneous sensor and transmits the information to a remote device (Paradigm RT) that may be worn or left close by eg on a bedside table. The device may be programmed to alarm for a rapidly falling glucose or for low glucose levels. We propose to use this in 16 patients with severe hypoglycemia as evidenced by a high HYPO score and see if we can decrease the number of hypoglycemic reactions and document this improvement with a better HYPO score.