New research shows that completing a structured, organized program designed to help them understand when their blood sugar is too high or too low is an effective way to help diabetic individuals maintain the control they need. It is a condition in which the body is either not making enough or isn't responding well enough to the hormone insulin, which is necessary to use the sugar in the blood. There are two main types of diabetes. These individuals must take daily injections of insulin in order to live. Type 2 diabetes usually starts around middle age and is caused by the gradual wearing out of the cells that produce insulin combined with an overall reduced ability of the body to respond to insulin in the blood.
Serious problems occur in diabetics when levels of sugar in the blood get too high or too low.
Low blood sugar, called hypoglycemia, can occur as a result of taking too much insulin and causes a drunken-like state that quickly progresses to unconsciousness and death if not treated quickly by eating pure sugar or sugar rich food. High blood sugar, or hyperglycemia, is usually not immediately life-threatening but can cause damage to the organs of the body and circulatory system over time. Keeping blood sugar at an optimal level, therefore, is crucial, and the Blood Glucose Awareness Training, or BGAT, program was designed to help diabetic individuals do just that. The designers of the program called it a biobehavioral intervention because it helps people with diabetes pick up on the subtle cues their bodies give off when blood sugar levels get too high or too low. William Clarke, MD, and colleagues completed a study showing that the latest version of BGAT, called BGAT-2, helped 73 adults with type 1 diabetes improve their ability to detect when their blood sugars were too high or low.