medwireNews: Italian researchers report that the slower pace of life forced on people with type 1 diabetes during lockdown amid the COVID-19 outbreak resulted in improved glycemic control.
“Diabetes professionals were concerned that glucose control could worsen during lockdown because of the limited possibility to exercise and the severe psychologic stress imposed by social distancing in a cultural environment heavily reliant on direct inter-personal relationships,” write Gian Paolo Fadini and colleagues from the University of Padova in Diabetes Therapy.
But flash glucose monitoring data for 20 people with type 1 diabetes (60% male, average age 36.9 years) who stopped work during lockdown showed a reduction in average glucose, from 177.7 mg/dL (9.9 mmol/L) in the week before lockdown to 161.0 mg/dL (8.9 mmol/L) during their first week at home.
Time in range (70–180 mg/dL; 3.9–10.0 mmol/L) improved from 54.4% to 65.2%, driven by a reduction in the time in hyperglycemia, from 42.3% to 31.6%; time in hypoglycemia did not change. These improvements occurred without an increase in the number of daily scans of the glucose monitor.
The researchers suggest their study participants “had more time to concentrate on diabetes control and had a more regular lifestyle, including the timing and composition of meals, while not being exposed to workplace stress.”
By contrast, there were no changes in the glucose profiles of 13 people with type 1 diabetes (53.8% male, average age 45.0 years) who continued to work. But the team describes this as “reassuring,” given the additional stresses facing this group, and attributes the stable glycemic control to the use of flash glucose monitoring, combined in many cases with an insulin pump.
medwireNews is an independent medical news service provided by Springer Healthcare. © 2020 Springer Healthcare part of the Springer Nature Group
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