Endocrinology & Metabolic Syndrome
Open Access
ISSN: 2161-1017
ISSN: 2161-1017
Adegbenga B Ademolu
National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria, Nigeria
Scientific Tracks Abstracts: Endocrinol Metab Syndr
Hypoglycemia as a management complication of Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is a worldwide experience. In Africa, hypoglycemia is an uncharted territory in literature. Therefore, the following questions will be addressed using Ademolus Classification of Hypoglycemia (ACH): Which is the commonest and the least common grade of hypoglycemia in DM African patients? Which grade of hypoglycemia is seen commonly in type-1 and in type-2 diabetics? This is a retrospective study that analyses 203 documented hypoglycemic episodes in Africans with DM admitted between July 2007 and October 2016 in Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Lagos, Nigeria using a questionnaire on 50 case files studied. Hypoglycemia was defined as a blood sugar of 70 mg/dl or less. The age range of the patients was 18 to 95 years. Now by using ACH to analyze the 203 hypoglycemic episodes in all type-2 diabetics studied, 48.50% had grade-l hypoglycemia, 35.93% had grade-2 hypoglycemia while 15.57% had grade-3 hypoglycemia. In all type-1 DM studied, 30.50% had grade-1, 33.33% had grade-2 while 36.11% had grade-3 hypoglycemia. The lowest documented hypoglycemia amongst type-2 DM was an asymptomatic fasting blood sugar of 20 mg/dl (grade-3 hypoglycemia)! By using ACH, there was no record of grade-4 hypoglycemia in both type-1 and type- 2 DM patients in this African study. The commonest grade is grade-1 (mild) in type-2 DM, whereas grade-3 (severe) is the commonest in type-1 DM. The least common grade of hypoglycemia in type-2 DM is grade-3 while in type-1 DM, it is grade-1. Asymtomatic hypoglycemia can occur in grade-3 among African diabetics! A similar study is recommended in Americans, Europeans, Asians and all ethnic groups for possible racial differences or disparity in the findings of this research.
Adegbenga B Ademolu is an Associate Fellow of the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria. He works in the Department of Medicine of Lagos State University Teaching Hospital Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria. He is a Member of the Endocrine Society where he functions as a Reviewer for both the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism (JCEM) and Journal of the Endocrine Society (JES). He is also a Fellow-in-Training of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologist. He is in the Editorial Board of the journal Gastroenterology and Liver: Clinical and Medicals (GLCM). His work on hypoglycemia amongst others is opening new path of scientific knowledge and research in endocrinology and related field. He has presented papers locally in Nigeria and internationally at conferences and has published papers locally in Nigeria and internationally in American, European and Asian journals. He is an active Member of the Endocrine and Metabolism Society of Nigeria.
E-mail: ademoluab@yahoo.com