July 31, 2000
Tight Control
Question from Essex, England:
My son, 11 years old, type 1 diabetes for four years, has had over 600 hypoglycaemic episodes in that period. He has had tests on hypothalamus, adrenal glands, pituitary gland and pancreas. He has been on numerous insulins, one, two, and four injections a day, all to no avail. He eats every two hours (chocolates, sweets, ice creams) and that has little effect on him. He has been deprived of insulin in hospital and his blood sugars do rise. He also has frequent episodes of hyperglycaemia. Have you encountered this before? Our specialist Professor is finding it difficult to come up with answers as to why his condition is so fragile. Sport sends him haywire and he constantly hypos during the night.
Answer:
Your physician is a renowned world expert on hypoglycaemia so it would be presumptuous of me to suggest anything. However, has your son tried an analogue insulin such as Humalog in a basal-bolus regimen? This is recognised to reduce hypoglycaemia. Another possibility would be an insulin pump for continuous infusion of insulin but this is a costly option – around �2250 for the pump then approximately �800 per annum running costs.
KJR
