People using a hybrid closed-loop system are more likely to have better HbA1c levels than those using open-loop therapies, a new study has indicated.
Researchers from the German Center for Diabetes Research have found that hybrid closed-loop systems can also stop people with type 1 diabetes from entering a hypoglycaemic coma.
However, people using hybrid closed-loop systems are more likely to experience diabetic ketoacidosis compared to those using open-loop therapies, the study has reported.
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Type 1 diabetes is a condition where your body cannot make a hormone called insulin. Insulin helps your body use glucose for energy.
Without insulin the level of glucose in your blood becomes too high. If you have type 1 diabetes, you’ll need to take insulin every day to manage your blood glucose levels, which traditionally involved daily finger pricks.
Nearly 14,000 young people with type 1 diabetes from 250 diabetes centres in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Luxembourg took part in the study. The participants were aged between two and 20 years old.
A total of 7,088 of the participants used hybrid closed-loop system, while 6,834 used an open-loop system.
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The participants using hybrid closed-loop therapy were less at risk of entering a hypoglycaemic coma and likely to have lower HbA1c levels than those in the open-loop therapy group, the research has revealed.
Those in the hybrid closed-loop therapy group were however more at risk of diabetes ketoacidosis than the participants in the open-loop therapy group.
Read the study in full in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology.
