Tag: hypoglycaemia

Categories : PaediatricsTags :

Treatment can Prevent Brain Impacts of Neonatal Hypoglycaemia

On By ModernMedia
Man holding newborn baby
Photo by Jonathan Borba on Unsplash

Long-term brain damage resulting from neonatal hypoglycaemia can be warded off with proper treatment such as later education and dextrose gel after birth, new studies have found.

The study is the first of its kind to show that stabilising blood sugar levels in neonatal hypoglycaemia prevents brain damage.

Hypoglycaemia is very common, affecting more than one in six babies. Since glucose is the main energy source for the brain and the body, untreated low blood sugar can cause adverse effects on a child’s neurodevelopment up to the age of 4.5 years old.

While hypoglycaemia is known to alter early development, there has been a significant gap in our understanding of how hypoglycaemia can alter a child’s development after early childhood. A study in JAMA investigated the long-term impact on brain development in mid-childhood – ages 9 to 10 – and found that, compared to peers, there was no significant difference in academic outcomes for children exposed to hypoglycaemia as newborns.

“Rich pre-school and school experiences may help a child’s brain to re-organise and improve their academic abilities up to the developmental milestones of their peers,” said Professor Ben Thompson, who is part of the research team.

Following 480 children born at risk of neonatal hypoglycaemia, researchers assessed each child at aged nine to 10 in five key areas: academic achievement, executive function, visual-motor function, psychosocial adaptation, and general health. All child participants were involved in previous studies, providing researchers with information on their neuro-development outcomes at two and 4.5 years old.

This ability to catch-up in neuro-cognitive function could be because of the brain’s plasticity, the researchers suggest.

“It’s a big relief to know that babies who are born with and treated for a condition as common as hypoglycaemia are not likely to suffer long-term brain damage,” Prof Thompson said.

The researchers have also continued studying the efficacy of dextrose gel to treat low blood sugar in the first 48-hours of a newborn’s life, avoiding the need for babies to go to newborn intensive care units immediately after delivery.

In an additional study published in JAMA, the team assessed the later risks of dextrose gel as a treatment for hypoglycaemia in infancy, and found change to the risk of neuro-sensory impairment at age two. This treatment continues to be widely used in a growing number of countries, including Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Source: University of Waterloo

Categories : Metabolic Disorders PaediatricsTags :

A Restful Sleep for Diabetic Children with New Glucagon Administration

On By ModernMedia


A new treatment has been developed that promises a way to prevent potentially lethal hypoglycaemic episodes in children.

For children with Type 1 diabetes, the risk of experiencing a severe hypoglycaemic episode can be quite high. Undetected drops in blood sugar overnight can result in coma and death — an event known as ‘dead in bed syndrome’. As well as being a threat to the child, parents also suffer psychological stress worrying about the situation and often losing sleep.

In severe situations, glucagon injections can stabilise blood glucose levels long enough for parents to get their child medical attention. But in a new study, published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, Matthew Webber, associate professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at the University of Notre Dame, is rethinking the traditional use of glucagon as an emergency response by administering it as a preventive measure.

The study describes how Prof Webber and his team successfully developed hydrogels that remain intact in the presence of glucose but slowly destabilise as levels drop, releasing glucagon into the system and raising glucose levels.

“In the field of glucose-responsive materials, the focus has typically been on managing insulin delivery to control spikes in blood sugar,” Prof Webber said. “There are two elements to blood glucose control. You don’t want your blood sugar to be too high and you don’t want it to be too low. We’ve essentially engineered a control cycle using a hydrogel that breaks down when glucose levels drop to release glucagon as needed.”

The water-based gels a three-dimensional structure. Prof Webber describes them as having a mesh-like architecture resembling a pile of spaghetti noodles with glucagon “sprinkled” throughout. In animal models the gels dissolved as glucose levels dropped, releasing their glucagon.

Ideally in future applications, the gels would be administered each night before bed, Webber explained. “If a hypoglycaemic episode arose later on, three or five hours later while the child is sleeping, then the technology would be there ready to deploy the therapeutic, correct the glucose imbalance and prevent a severe episode.”

Since research is in extremely early stages, parents and individuals living with Type 1 diabetes should not expect a therapy available anytime soon, Prof Webber cautioned.

“One of the big challenges was engineering the hydrogel to be stable enough in the presence of glucose and responsive enough in the absence of it,” he said. Another challenge was preventing the glucagon from leaking out of the hydrogel’s mesh-like structure. Though the team was successful in this regard, Prof Webber said he hopes to improve stability and responsiveness with further study.

Source: EurekAlert!