Type 1 diabetes during pregnancy linked to increased risk of hypoglycemic episodes

USA: Pregnant women with type 1 diabetes have a sustained daytime risk of hypoglycemia, which tends to happen more frequently overnight during pregnancy, states a study published in the journal of Diabetes Technology & Therapeutics.

Up to 10% of all pregnancies in the US are complicated by diabetes. 0.2% to 0.5% of these are people with type 1 diabetes (T1DM). With traditional insulin replacement therapy, hypoglycemia, especially at night, is a frequent occurrence. Type 1 diabetes carries a high risk for pregnancies, and there is little information available in the United States about hypoglycemia based on continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) during pregnancy in patients using sensor-assisted insulin pump therapy.

The authors of the study aimed to record hypoglycemia during pregnancy in women on sensor-assisted insulin pump therapy and using continuous glucose monitoring (CGM).

For this purpose, 25 pregnant women's data were examined for CGM hypoglycemia using international consensus recommendations for percentage time <63 and 54 mg/dL, hypoglycemic events, persistent hypoglycemia events for 24-h, daytime, and nocturnal periods, and severe hypoglycemia (SH) episodes. Before 17 weeks of pregnancy, type 1 diabetic pregnant women were enrolled in the LOIS-P Study (Longitudinal Observation of Insulin use and glucose Sensor metrics in Pregnant women with type 1 diabetes using continuous glucose monitors and insulin pumps). The authors used a study Dexcom G6 CGM in addition to their own insulin pump.