People with type 1 diabetes may have a new reason to appreciate a cup of coffee. Caffeine intake, in normal amounts, is associated with a significant reduction in nighttime episodes of excessively low blood sugar levels -- or hypoglycemia -- according to UK researchers."The fear of nocturnal hypoglycemia is consistently the greatest fear that patients bring up in clinic,” lead investigator Dr. Tristan Richardson told Reuters Health. “The influence of a common everyday drug such as caffeine on reducing the amount of time with hypoglycemia, especially at night, is interesting, and has never been suggested before."People with type 1 diabetes have to take insulin to keep their blood glucose levels within the normal range. When levels drop too low, patients can become weak and disoriented, and even suffer brain damage and go into a coma.In the medical journal Diabetes Care, Richardson of Royal Bournemouth Hospital and colleagues note that in previous studies they showed that moderate caffeine intake can boost the normal body responses that occur to correct mild hypoglycemia.
