Diabetic patients with liver fibrosis are at an increased risk of severe hypoglycemia, a study has found. From left, Lee Yong-ho, professor of endocrinology at Severance Hospital, and Han Kyung-do, professor of information, statistics and actuarial science at Soongsil University. (Photo = Severance Hospital)
[뉴스토마토 동지훈 기자] Diabetic patients with liver fibrosis are at an increased risk of severe hypoglycemia, a study has found.
A research team led by Professor Lee Yong-ho of the Department of Endocrinology at Severance Hospital and Professor Han Kyung-do of the Department of Information Statistics and Actuaris at Soongsil University announced that the risk of severe hypoglycemia in diabetic patients with hepatic fibrosis was 38% higher than in patients without hepatic fibrosis.
Hypoglycemia due to low blood glucose levels is a common complication in diabetes mellitus. Severe hypoglycemia increases the risk of dementia and cardiovascular disease, and can lead to loss of consciousness and even death.
Liver fibrosis is a disease in which liver tissue becomes hard. It interferes with the contact between hepatocytes and blood, resulting in decreased liver function. Liver fibrosis can be exacerbated by cirrhosis and liver cancer. The most common cause is non-alcoholic fatty liver, which is caused by the accumulation of excess fat in the liver.
There have been many studies on risk factors that cause severe hypoglycemia, but no studies have identified nonalcoholic fatty liver as a risk factor.
To investigate the effect of nonalcoholic fatty liver on severe hypoglycemia, the research team investigated the Fatty Liver Index in patients treated for severe hypoglycemia and revealed the risk of severe hypoglycemia according to the fatty liver index.
First, the research team used big data from the National Health Insurance Corporation to check whether severe hypoglycemia was treated for about 2 million adults with type 2 diabetes between 2009 and 2012.
During the follow-up period of approximately 5 years, 45,135 patients were treated for severe hypoglycemia. The average age of patients with severe hypoglycemia was 67.9 years, which was 10.7 years higher than the average age of patients without severe hypoglycemia of 57.2 years. The average body mass index (BMI) was 24.3, 0.8 lower than that of the control group.
Next, the research team used the fatty liver index to determine the effect of nonalcoholic fatty liver on the occurrence of severe hypoglycemia. The fatty liver index is a number that measures the severity of fatty liver using liver enzymes. According to this index, all diabetic patients were divided into the low index group (FLI<30) and the middle group (30?FLI).60).
The number of patients with severe hypoglycemia in each group was 3.6, 3.4, and 4.4 out of 100, respectively, which increased by 26% in the group with high fatty liver index compared to the group with low fatty liver index. The risk of severe hypoglycemia increased by 38% in patients with fatty liver with liver fibrosis compared to patients with diabetes without liver abnormalities.
As a result of analyzing the fatty liver index by dividing it into 10 deciles, the research team confirmed that the risk of severe hypoglycemia according to the fatty liver index draws a J-shaped curve. The fatty liver index with the lowest probability of developing severe hypoglycemia was 12-54 in men and 7-37 in women.
Professor Lee Yong-ho said, “The significance of this study is that it revealed that patients with type 2 diabetes with fatty liver have a high risk of developing severe hypoglycemia. said
Meanwhile, the results of this study were published in the latest issue of the Journal JAMA Network Open published by the American Medical Association.
By Dong Ji-hoon, staff reporter [email protected]
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