LAWS that require drivers with diabetes to keep their blood sugar in the normal range may be backfiring: the most diligent are also most likely to have a crash.
People with diabetes have trouble controlling their blood sugar level, but if it is too high or too low it can lead to a coma or blackout.
In many countries, including the UK, Canada and the US, drivers with diabetes must assess their blood sugar control. Often used is a blood test for haemoglobin A1c, which is a guide to sugar levels over the past 2 to 3 months. Those with poorly controlled diabetes can forfeit their licence.
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But when and his colleagues at the University of Toronto in Canada studied the records of 795 drivers with diabetes, 57 of whom were in a crash, those with the tightest control were most likely to have crashed.
Redelmeier suspects that keeping too tight a lid on blood sugar increases the likelihood of 鈥渂reakthrough鈥� incidents of dangerously low blood sugar, leading to blackouts. 鈥淎t least a part of it is inadvertent episodes of severe hypoglycaemia,鈥� he says.
He argues that the laws should be changed.
Journal reference:
鈥淭oo tight a lid on blood sugar can lead to dangerously low sugar levels and blackouts鈥�
