Poor blood glucose control increases fatigue

Fatigue is common among patients with type 2 diabetes and can undermine the self-management needed to maintain blood glucose control. However, the relationship between diabetes and fatigue is poorly understood. Researchers from the USA enrolled 155 adults with type 2 diabetes and collected data on fatigue for six days.

Patients were aged, on average, 55.7 years and had had diabetes for a mean of 7.3 years. The researchers split patients into two groups: 'controlled' (HbA1C of 7% or less) and 'uncontrolled' (HbA1C over 7%). Average HbA1C was 8.9% and 6.2% in the uncontrolled and controlled groups, respectively.