Nocturnal Hypoglycaemia & Addison's?
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Does relative hypoglycaemia &/or sleep disturbance contribute to the lethargy observed in Addison’s disease.
IRAS ID
239047
Contact name
Robert D Murray
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 11 months, 30 days
Research summary
Addison's disease is a condition that leads to a reduction in production of steroid hormones from the adrenal glands. These hormones, particularly cortisol have many important roles in the body, one of which is increasing blood sugar. We replace these steroids with tablets but fails to mimic the normal increase in natural cortisol levels which increase from around 2am in the early morning. Furthermore, steroid tablets have been associated with stopping patients from going to sleep.
Patients with Addison's disease on treatment still complain of excessive fatigue and have an increased risk of death from blood vessel diseases. Some case reports have shown some patients with Addison's disease to have low blood sugars overnight.
To investigate the possible causes of fatigue in Addison's disease we examine sugar levels and sleep patterns of our patients. We will also look at blood clotting as a potential mechanism for the unexplained increase in blood vessel diseases. To examine sugar levels we will attach a small probe to the upper arm which they will wear for 14 days to measure blood glucose very regularly and is painless. Additionally the patients will wear a watch that monitors sleep, movement, and light. A single blood sample will be taken to measure vascular risk markers and how the blood clots. After wearing the monitors the subjects will complete questionnaires assessing quality of life. We will recruit healthy individuals to undergo the same monitoring to act as a control group.
We will compare the data obtained between Addison's disease and healthy subjects. The scores from the questionnaires will be compared to the glucose and sleep readings to ascertain if there is a link between low blood sugars or sleep disturbance and their quality of life to determine if any physical abnormalities translate in to the poor quality of life.REC name
HSC REC B
REC reference
22/NI/0048
Date of REC Opinion
22 Mar 2022
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion