Abstract
The possibility that hypoglycemia causes abnormal of neuropsychological function in diabetic patients was examined. A veriety of battery tests of intellectual and cognitive performance were performed and the P300 latency of event-related potentials (ERPs) was measured with reference to hypoglycemic episodes, glycemic control and daily fluctuations in plasma glucose levels in 46 diabetic patients without cerebrovascular disease.
Latency was significantly prolonged in patients with hypoglycemic episodes than in those without. Among diabetic patients with hypoglycemic episodes, those under poor (HbA1>10) of labile glycemic control had a lower attention (story recall) score. Patients having the 3 conditions of hypoglycemic episodes and poor and labile glycemic control tended to have more prolonged P300 latencies and significantly lower test scores, including attention, learning and memory and abstraction scores, than patients having only two of the 3 conditions.
These results suggest that neuropsychological function deteriorates in diabetic patients not only as a result of hypoglycemia but because of poor or labile glycemic control.
