Postprandial hyperglycaemia following a morning hypoglycaemia in type 1 diabetes mellitus

The occurrence of hyperglycaemia following a morning hypoglycaemic episode was studied in nine patients with Type 1 diabetes. Each patient was studied twice, once following induced hypoglycaemia and once in a control study when hypoglycaemia was prevented by glucose infusion. After the initial hypoglycaemic/control period the patients were maintained on their regular insulin regimens and were given standard meals. Hypoglycaemia induced postprandial hyperglycaemia (3.1 +/- 0.8 mmol l-1 above control) which lasted for about 8 h. Maximal growth hormone levels were seen 40 min after glucose nadir (control 7.8 +/- 3.2, hypoglycaemia 74.0 +/- 12.3 mU l-1) and the magnitude of the hyperglycaemia was related to the growth hormone levels following the hypoglycaemia (r = 0.80, p less than 0.01).