Research to Help Diabetics With Hypoglycemia Unawareness

Life with diabetes is hard enough but those who take medicine to control their symptoms can experience hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar, that if left untreated can lead to, seizures, coma or even death. While most diabetics experience warning symptoms, such as shakiness or hunger, 20% of type 1 diabetics do not, meaning they don’t know that they need to take action to raise their blood sugar to safe levels. Dr. Simon Fisher, co-director of the Diabetes and Metabolism Center at the University of Utah, describes hypoglycemia unawareness and his search for drugs to alleviate the problem. He also explains why support from nonprofit organizations such as JDRF, which supports his work, has become increasingly important in recent years.