Abstract
Individuals diagnosed with diabetes may choose adventure travel vacations at higher altitudes, thereby perturbing formerly controlled sea level (SL) blood sugar (BG) levels. PURPOSE: We sought to describe change in resting BG concentration, heart rate (HR), and mean arterial pressure (MAP) during repeat acute exposure to simulated altitude bouts in a type 1 diabetic (T1D) vs a non-diabetic (ND). We hypothesized T1D would encounter less stable readings on all variables. METHODS: Two male participants (n=2), a T1D and ND, 22 and 23 years old, respectively, completed this case study. Participants, simultaneously, visited a lab on six different days [i.e., three days in a row one week (M, T, W) and the same three days the following week (M, T, W)]. They ingested the same meals the night before and day of (1.5-hrs before chamber use). At each visit, BG (Contour Next Link; Parsippany, NJ), HR (Polar, Lake Success, NY), and MAP (Briggs Healthcare, Waukegan, IL) were assessed at rest at SL and during 2-hr/bouts at 10-min intervals using a hypoxic chamber (Hypoxico Inc., New York, NY) set randomly to varying altitudes: SL; 915 m; 1,829 m; 2,743m; 3,658m; and 4,572m. RESULTS: For each variable, magnitude of change (Δ) was averaged over the 6 lab visits and compared at SL and across altitude levels. SL ΔBG (mg/dL), ΔHR (bpm), and ΔMAP (mmHg) for T1D and ND, respectively, were: 19, 16, 18; and 34, 18, 12. T1D maintained a more stable BG at SL over 6 days. When averaging the five altitude levels over 6 days, ΔBG (mg/dL), ΔHR (bpm), and ΔMAP (mmHg) for T1D and ND, respectively, were: 58, 9, 10; and 47, 9, 10. Notably, T1D had a less stable BG during hypoxic exposure. CONCLUSION: Simulated hypoxia perturbed BG to a greater extent in T1D. This could have practical application for when a T1D travels to higher, natural elevations, at which point they should more closely monitor their BG levels with normal food and fluid intake.
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