Objective measurements of activity patterns in people with newly diagnosed Type 2 diabetes demonstrate a sedentary lifestyle.

AIMS: To evaluate physical activity in people with newly diagnosed Type 2 diabetes using objective measures. METHODS: We analysed data from a study aimed at assessing carotid femoral pulse wave velocity in which a piezoelectric accelerometer was worn by 100 people with newly diagnosed Type 2 diabetes and by 100 age- and sex-matched control subjects. Differences in physical activity patterns were investigated. RESULTS: Compared with the control group, the people with Type 2 diabetes spent significantly more time engaged in sedentary or lower level activities during the day, with a mean (sd) time of 926 (44) vs 898 (70) min, P < 0.001). This difference remained significant after correction for differences in BMI between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: Using objective measurements, our findings demonstrate that people with newly diagnosed Type 2 diabetes have a more sedentary lifestyle compared with well-matched controls.

Spontaneous and iatrogenic hypoglycaemia related to mortality in the ICU.

AIM: Our study investigated the relationship between both spontaneous and iatrogenic hypoglycaemia and mortality. METHODS: A total of 200,859 patients from the eICU Collaborative Research Database were grouped by whether they had registered episodes of hypoglycaemia or not. Patients with hypoglycaemia were then further divided into subgroups according to type of hypoglycaemia-whether spontaneous or iatrogenic. Spontaneous hypoglycaemia during an ICU stay was defined as one or more registered blood glucose measurements < 70 mg/dL (3.9 mmol/L) with no evidence of insulin therapy. RESULTS: Evidence of at least one hypoglycaemic episode during ICU hospitalization was associated with a significant increase in mortality: the observed mortality rate in such patients was 15.6% compared with 8% in patients without hypoglycaemia (P < 0.001). Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed with APACHE Scores, hypoglycaemia and baseline data (age, gender, and ethnicity). Spontaneous hypoglycaemia remained a statistically significant predictor of mortality with an adjusted odds ratio (OR) of 1.61 (95% CI: 1.38-1.88; P < 0.001), whereas iatrogenic hypoglycaemia was not a significant predictor with an adjusted OR of 0.97 (95% CI: 0.82-1.14; P = 0.71). CONCLUSION: Spontaneous hypoglycaemia observed in ICU patients was associated with increased mortality and increased length of ICU stay. Although the present study, given its observational design, cannot provide a definitive answer, the clear difference between spontaneous and iatrogenic hypoglycaemia does not support a causal relationship between (short-lasting) hypoglycaemia and adverse outcomes, but instead indicates that (short-lasting) hypoglycaemia may be a marker of illness severity.

Hypoglycaemia and QT interval prolongation in type 1 diabetes--bridging the gap between clamp studies and spontaneous episodes.

AIMS: We propose a study design with controlled hypoglycaemia induced by subcutaneous injection of insulin and matched control episodes to bridge the gap between clamp studies and studies of spontaneous hypoglycaemia. The observed prolongation of the heart rate corrected QT interval (QTc) during hypoglycaemia varies greatly between studies. METHODS: We studied ten adults with type 1 diabetes (age 41±15years) without cardiovascular disease or neuropathy. Single-blinded hypoglycaemia was induced by a subcutaneous insulin bolus followed by a control episode on two occasions separated by 4weeks. QT intervals were measured using the semi-automatic tangent approach, and QTc was derived by Bazett's (QTcB) and Fridericia's (QTcF) formulas. RESULTS: QTcB increased from baseline to hypoglycaemia (403±20 vs. 433±39ms, p<0.001). On the euglycaemia day, QTcB also increased (398±20 vs. 410±27ms, p<0.01), but the increase was less than during hypoglycaemia (p<0.001). The same pattern was seen for QTcF. Plasma adrenaline levels increased significantly during hypoglycaemia compared to euglycaemia (p<0.01). Serum potassium levels decreased similarly after insulin injection during both hypoglycaemia and euglycaemia. CONCLUSIONS: Hypoglycaemia as experienced after a subcutaneous injection of insulin may cause QTc prolongation in type 1 diabetes. However, the magnitude of prolongation is less than typically reported during glucose clamp studies, possible because of the study design with focus on minimizing unwanted study effects.