Hypoglycaemia (low blood sugar), the most common complication of insulin therapy in people with diabetes, leads to both acute and persistent effects. Further understanding of these may allow for interventions aimed at diminishing the consequences of hypoglycaemia. This thesis focuses on the acute effects of hypoglycaemia on cognition, the acute and longer-term effects of hypoglycaemia on inflammation and the methodology used to induce experimental hypoglycaemia.
This thesis shows that hypoglycaemia acutely impairs the cognitive function, irrespective of diabetes related factors. In addition, our studies show that acute experimental hypoglycaemia induces a pro-inflammatory response at multiple levels, of which the immune protein remain elevated at least for a week. In conclusion, the findings of our studies emphasize the importance of avoiding hypoglycaemia for the broader population of people with diabetes.
Clementine Verhulst (1992), obtained her medical degree in 2018 at the Radboud University. After which she started her PhD at the Department of Internal Medicine of Radboudumc. In summer of 2022, Clementine started working as medical doctor in the Canisius Wilhelmina hospital (CWZ) in Nijmegen at the Department of Internal Medicine.