Brittle Diabetes

25 Jul

Posted by admin as diabetes

Brittle diabetes: A type of diabetes when a person’s blood glucose (sugar) level often swings quickly from high to low and from low to high. Also called “unstable diabetes” or “labile diabetes.”

One of the most prominent features of diabetes is its uniqueness. No two diabetics respond in exactly the same way to their food, insulin, or exercise, and no two individuals, even if they show the same glucose test results, will experience precisely the same complications. The disease is, by definition, unpredictable. Still, making allowance for surprises, we know the effects of more insulin, less insulin, more exercise, less exercise, more food, etc.

Conditions Related to Brittle Diabetes

Brittle diabetes can be caused by gastrointestinal absorption problems, including delayed stomach emptying (gastroperesis), drug interactions, problems with insulin absorption, or hormonal malfunction.People who have severely low blood sugar levels may also have problems with their thyroid (hypothyroidism) and adrenal glands (adrenal insufficiency).

It is true that some people do have an unusual or exaggerated response to food, medication, or stress, and despite their trying to be consistent with their diabetes regimen, their control is erratic. However, diabetes specialists now know that there are far fewer “true brittle” people with diabetes, because generally the swings of blood glucose have a preventable or treatable cause.

Causes of Brittle Diabetes

Some of the causes of Brittle Diabetes are included in the list below:

Haemochromatosis

Polyendochrine syndromes - some rare syndromes cause multiple autoimmune diseases in various body glands

Symptoms of Brittle Diabetes

Palpitations

Weight Gain (especially around your waist and abdomen)

Skin Changes (dryness, thinning look)

Treatment of Brittle Diabetes

The approach to management will obviously vary depending on the specific cause in each case. In evaluating a patient with brittle diabetes (who may have mountainous medical records!), it may be beneficial to start fresh with a new physician and diabetes care team. A fresh look is helpful in remaining objective, decreasing the ability of the patient to manipulate the care team and possibly spot a metabolic cause which may have been missed.