CLINICAL- DIABETES Flashcards
Diabetes is the fifth most common cause of death in the world!! Around ______ people between 20 and 79 have their death attributed to diabetes
1 in 8 people
Type 1 diabetes is the autoimmune destruction of pancreatic B cells. What are present in 85-90% of people that cause destruction of these cells?
Islet cell antibodies
Flag to the immune system to destroy these.
How long is life expectancy said to be decreased by for people with type 1 diabetes?
Reduced by 20 years
It’s becoming particularly common in children under 5 now
What happens in terms of insulin secretion in Type 2 diabetes?
Firstly HYPERINSULINAEMIA: body compensates for insulin resistance by increasing insulin secretion from Beta cells (lots of insulin)
Then HYPERGLYCAEMIA: resistance to insulin increases, beta cells can’t produce enough insulin to keep up, glucose levels rise
This all leads to beta cell failure. Glucose levels really badly controlled. Person has to go from oral treatment to insulin injections. Type 2 diabetes present
How long is life expectancy reduced by for people with Type 2 diabetes?
By approx 10 years10-15% of people with diabetes have Type 2
List 5 of the less severe signs and symptoms of diabetes?
Thirst
Polyuria (frequent weeing)
Lethargy Visual disturbance (getting balance of fluid and glucose in eye: some patients say it’s better some worse)
Urinogenital infection
List 3 of the more severe symptoms/ complications with diabetes?
Diabetic Ketoacidosis with type 1
Hyperosmolar hyperglycemic state with type 2
Diabetic foot ulcer
Diabetic retinopathy
Myocardial infarction
To confirm a diagnosis of diabetes, what should blood glucose be when fasting?
7.0 or over
To confirm a diagnosis of diabetes, what should blood glucose be 2 hours after a glucose load?
11.1 or over
We can use HbA1c to diagnose diabetes. What value must this be?
48 mmol/mol or over
Remember these units!!
What percentage of people are currently undiagnosed with diabetes?
50% of people. The need for regular screening is therefore very important
How often should someone with diabetes be reviewed?
ANNUALLY- once a year They do retinal (eye) screening, nephropathy screening (kidneys) Hypertension screening, vascular disease examination (fatty deposits in blood vessels) Neuropathic foot problems are often ignored- not good!!
In a trial, intensive insulin therapy was seen to cause a 1-3 fold increase in what?
Severe hypoglycaemia The more hypos you have, the more the body starts to think this is normal so doesn’t give out any signals before it- people can just fall unconscious unexpectedly But this tighter control of blood glucose slowed the onset of retinopathy (eyes), nephropathy (kidneys), and neuropathy (feet)
What percentage of people with diabetes also have depression because of the effects it can have on emotions?
50% 5-10% on an antidepressant
What is the recommended target range for fasting blood glucose?
4-7 mmol/L
With insulin treatment we aim to achieve BG in this range
What blood glucose do we aim for 2 hours after a meal?
Under 8.5 mmol/L
If we have achieved good glucose control with insulin, what should our urine test come out as?
Negative
What is the target HbA1c range for people with diabetes on insulin?
48-58 mmol/ mol
We aim for 53 mmol/mol
What does porcine insulin differ to human insulin by?
1 amino acid
It is not linked to antibody formation (antibodys won’t be produced against it)
How is human insulin produced?
By enzymatic modification of porcine (pig) insulin
Can use E Coli or Yeast to do this
When may people be out on insulin injections?
When lifestyle and oral therapy haven’t worked
Poor control of diabetes- can be either symptomatic or asymptomatic
Pre and post operatively (remember from surgery topic we can put them on IV insulin)
Infection
Myocardial infarction
Steroid therapy
Pregnancy
What does basal insulin mean ??
Long acting insulin that helps you control blood sugar between meals and during sleep
What does bolus insulin mean?
Insulin that helps you control blood sugar from meals (so managing the spikes after meals- will be shorter acting)
What is a basal- bolus insulin regimen?
Injecting a long acting analogue form (or intermediate acting) of insulin to control blood glucose levels through periods of fasting (I.e between meals and sleeping)
And seperate injections of short acting insulin and rapid acting analogue insulin to control spikes in blood glucose levels after meals
Intermediate human insulin injections, used as basal insulin (to cover you throughout day), last for how long?
May only be active for around 8 hours
But provide a higher peak in insulin action that modern basal insulin
How long may modern basil insulin last?
Can provide up to 24 hour cover
But lower levels than intermediate human insulin
Flat and stable action profile
Degludec is an ULTRA long acting insulin with very slow absorption. What causes this slow absorption?
At the injection site Degludec forms soluble hexamers
From here monomers gradually separate and get into blood stream
Long acting insulin: Zinc suspension {Hypurin} has an onset after 3 hours, and a peak at 6-14 hours (lasts for 24-28 hours so v long action!)
Why is it important to consider onset and peak time?
It’s especially important to consider this in hospital setting especially when busy, as the slower onset means that you can give it earlier and it will still be delivered on time
What are some of the differences between long acting insulin analogue and long acting isophane?
Analogue clear in appearance, isophane is cloudy
No peak with analogue, peak for 2-12 hours with isophane
Both last for 24 hours
There is a risk of night time hypos with isophane insulin