How often does a hypo actually kill someone?

hanadr

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I keep reading about how dangerous a hypo is, and I've dealth with many with T1 husband, but I cannot find any figures on how often someone actually dies from this.
 

sugarless sue

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Death

Some research estimates that between four and 13 percent of the deaths of people with type I diabetes are the result of hypoglycemic events. "What's worrisome about these deaths is that they are due to the treatment," says Philip Cryer, MD, FACP president of the American Diabetes Association (ADA).

One especially frightening possibility for people on insulin that may be the result of severe hypoglycemia is what the journal Diabetic Medicine referred to in 1991 as "dead in bed syndrome." Victims of the syndrome are found dead in an undisturbed bed, observed to have been in good health the day before and are free from evidence of late diabetes complications.

As is the case with accidents, it is very hard to determine if these deaths are the result of hypoglycemia. Researchers in the U.K. note, however, that the timings of the deaths and other circumstantial evidence suggests that hypoglycemia or a hypoglycemic event is responsible.

There are major problems with diagnosing hypoglycemia after death (see page 18). Cryer explains that testing the blood sugar of someone found dead after an accident or mysterious death that appears to be the result of hypoglycemia "is of zero value." He explains that the body will continue to process glucose for some time after death. As a result, the BG of a person after death will most likely not be an accurate reflection of their BG prior to death.

Taken from:
http://www.diabeteshealth.com/read/1997/07/01/878.html
 

hanadr

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I found the "dead in bed" stuff, but I still haven't got any confirmed figures.
As an aside, My friend's 27 year old son died suddnly one Sunday morning , after going back to bed from the bathroom. He didn't have diabetes, but a rare thing called Barter's syndrome, which is an error of potassium control.
It was devastating. He was such a delightful young man.
 

sugarless sue

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Don't forget ,Chocfish this is about insulin dependent diabetics who hypo.
 

totsy

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a friend of my daughters died in her sleep too,they think this was an hypo,she was 15,it is very scary as i was waking up with some severe lows in the night under 2mmol,these petrified me but now ive learnt to just get on with life and hope for the best,
its a fear we have to live with :?
 

joe159

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Ive been waking up at 3.1 3.5 but usually 4.1 and I have toast at night.
But I was thinking what a great way to go' no pain just drift away so cant really complain if thats how i go.

however its sad when you see someone so young as the 15 year old who passed this way' its a pity there is not some kind of alarm for kids who are type1.
Joe
 

Rach79

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According to reports received for IDDT (after 1993) - the dead in bed syndrome has affected 6% of diabetics under 40. These ages range from 7 to 35.

http://www.iddtinternational.org/gmvsan ... d_syndrome

According to IDDT also, apparantly It is also difficult in a post mortem to identify the diabetic as dying due to a hypo as sometimes BG rises even when it has reached 0. I almost died a few months back due to a hypo (btw you don't die in your sleep you are unaware of what is happening until it's too late and you feel sick and tired but then you are too weak to speak or do anything and then you pass out). Luckily I had my boyfriend with me who called the ambulance and thus saved my life. Although they took 15 minutes to get to me.. and I was told my BG was as close to 0 as one could possibly get without dying. I would say if you have strong feelings of hypos you are at less risk, however if they are somewhat diminished then there is more of a risk.
 

lionrampant

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Look at it this way: if it happens to you, you'll never know. Er, that's aimed at the rest of us not the OP obviously. :?
 

Katharine

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The trouble is that you can emerge from a severe hypoglycaemic coma with brain damage. It is well worth the effort to avoid severe hypos if you can.

There is a device ? hypo watch. This is a watch like thing you put on your wrist. The alarm goes off if you become particularly sweaty. Sweating often occurs in severe hypos. It doesn't check the blood sugar and of course there are other causes of sweating or it may not be part of your symptomatology for hypos.

I looked into this. It cost £60. I didn't buy it because my son hasn't had severe hypos/sweats and I hope the technology will have improved by the time he does.

The entire night thing is a worry and I am probably the only mum who wants her son to sleep with every girl he meets (preferably nurses or doctors !)
 
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Rach79

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Hmmm doesn't seem that great - I can get hot and sweaty at night because my room gets stuffy. Also sometimes when I have severe hypos I'm not sweaty so I wouldn't buy it. Yeah brain damage is something I was told I could have suffered from. Who's to say my hypo from hell didn't actually give me long term brain damage. I know sometimes I forget to take my insulin now, or I forget that I've taken it and even forget it when going to work so it could have already set in. I doubt at 29years it is my age that's for sure.
 

TROUBR

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I had not heard about death in bed sydrome until there was an artical in my local papers about a young woman (30) dying in Wimbledon recently. I cried my eyes out - partly for her and her family(and I didn't even know her) and partly rather selfishly :oops: for me as it feaked me out.

Such an awful thing to happen to anyone. Incidentally, I am sure they said that in this girls case that her BG levels were normal so I am now not sure if death in bed was hypo linked but they definately seemed to link it to her type 1 situation.

Louise
 

Rach79

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Yeah on record my last HB1Ac was classed as normal by the clinic - although I was having on average 5 hypo attacks a day at that time and the remainder was hyperglyceamic attacks. One of which nearly cost me my life. Apparantly the BG can be normal but then a sudden drop in BG can cause hypo and person to lose conscienceness. After post mortem it is difficult to detect because although at time of death the glucose reaches 0 mmol - after death the body can apparantly release sugar so when BG is tested it doesn't show 0 mmol and they have to judge whether it was due to a hypo or not. If the BG is lower than normal I think they suspect yes. I would guess judging by that information it would be also.
 

hanadr

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You've pointed up the difficulty of relyng on HbA1c. It shows an average. You can have an average with wild swings or with a lot of readings close together. Since it's the "spikes" that do damage,Keeping a steady reading of under 7 is best
 

Jenny

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Death is coded for statistical purposes under an internationally agreed set of 'rules' (which are also used for analysis of disease and injury). The current version is ICD 10 and is available on the web. Diabetes falls into the range E10 - E14 with necessary subdivisions.

The likely problem with getting at the relevant data is that application of the coding to stated causes of death on a certificate in the UK is that consideration of the 'morbid sequence' comes into play. When I was involved in the stats process many years ago it was possible to have 9 or so 'causes' listed in the death certificate and the 'underlying' cause appeared in the main published statistics. These data could be amended if a post mortem was conducted because that data was applied (within the year) to the data abstracted from death certificates. Other tabulations, the 'unpublished tables' were available for those who had a closer interest in the subject and needed more detailed data - in effect the data were cross tabulated by underlying and contributory or other causes. So, I suspect that if you ask the right questions or know where to look there will be some stats available which will give a good indication of the number of deaths where at hypo was involved (or suspected and on the death certificate).

My instinct, and recollection, would suggest that the main causes of death are related to heart disease and cancers in an ageing population. Deaths that involved a hypo I do not recall; nor where diabetes was the underlying cause and if any, the numbers will be very small. If there is a sudden 'unexpected' death then inevitably a post mortem will be carried out. In such circumstances the certifying doc would probably include diabetes related information on the certificate and at post mortem, an wholly independent assessment, this might or might not be confirmed. Data for the sudden death in the young or near young would probably throw up some cases where a hypo was at the least suspected as a contributory cause.

Undoubtedly, many die because of conditions where diabetes was a major contributor. However, that's life as they say and does sit really matter? For those of us of a certain age death becomes a daily inevitability. When asked how I am I normally simply say 'still vertical' - which baffles my French friends. And each day when I awake I am still thankful for being vertical.

Why worry about death from a hypo. It could be a bus, a trip over the cat or................
 

diabetesmum

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I worry a lot about night time hypos. My older daughter had 2 severe night time hypos last year where she convulsed and her BG was below 1.0. It was very frightening for her and for us as her parents. Whilst she cannot remember the convulsion, she says she remembers feeling ill and trying to cry out for help but not being able to. It is quite distressing. My younger daughter is also Type 1 but so far, thank goodness, this hasn't happened to her. I get up most nights to check their BG's and am quite good now at getting Lucozade down the throats of barely awake children! I cannot imagine them living alone or with flatmates who would not bother to check them (and why should they - it's a real responsibilty). Finding them 'dead in bed' (God forbid) in the morning is certainly something that goes through my mind on occasion.

Sometimes it's hard to see how everything will work out in the future, but I guess technology might come to the rescue.
Sue
 

hanadr

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I know those night times. I have had to deal witha couple reecently and I'm coping with a 17 stone man, who is being stupid and acting like a drunk. The lowest BG, I got from him was 1.9. I keep lucozade in the bedroom.
 

LoneWolf

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I know this isnt exactly on-topic but i thought i'd put it in here anyway as its connected. My girlfriend has had quite a few severe hypo's, and 3 that lead into a coma and then into a fit (not to scare anyone, they were all to her stupidly taking insulin when she shouldnt have, and then going back to sleep) and she's still fine.

It's really quite stressful for me, as every time she moves in her sleep now im waking her up to make sure she isnt having another one lol.
 

Katharine

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Really good "sentry" alerts would really help. Has anyone used the "sweaty" one or the alarm based glucose monitors at all?