Intense interval training cuts hypoglycemia awareness in T1DM

(HealthDay)—For patients with type 1 diabetes and normal awareness of hypoglycemia (NAH), high-intensity interval training (HIIT) is associated with reduced awareness of subsequent hypoglycemia, according to a study published online April 18 in Diabetes.

Hanne M. Rooijackers, M.D., from the Radboud University Medical Center in Nijmegen, Netherlands, and colleagues conducted a randomized crossover trial involving patients with type 1 diabetes and NAH, patients with impaired awareness of hypoglycemia (IAH), and healthy participants (10 per group). Participants underwent a hyperinsulinemic-hypoglycemic clamp after a session of HIIT or seated rest.

The researchers found that HIIT reduced symptoms of hypoglycemia compared to rest in patients with NAH but not in patients with IAH or healthy participants. HIIT correlated with a reduction in hypoglycemia-induced cognitive dysfunction, which was mainly due to changes in the NAH subgroup. HIIT correlated with suppression of cortisol and growth hormone responses, but did not suppress catecholamine responses to hypoglycemia.

"The present findings demonstrate that a single HIIT session rapidly reduces awareness of subsequent hypoglycemia in patients with type 1 diabetes and NAH, but not in patients with IAH, and attenuates hypoglycemia-induced cognitive dysfunction," the authors write.