Metabolic Adaptations to Diabetes in African Americans

Metabolic Adaptations to Diabetes

We do not know why diabetic patients cannot protect themselves against low blood sugar. Therefore, in this study, we will perform a comprehensive assessment of the body's response to low blood sugar by measuring changes in blood hormones, blood sugar production, and nerve signals.

Morning and afternoon hypoglycemic episodes of 70, 60, or 50 mg/dl produce increased blunting of subsequent counterregulation dependent upon the depth of preceding hypoglycemia. We wanted to test this hypothesis in healthy African American individuals to determine if there is a difference in their responses to varying depths of hypoglycemia.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Healthy males and females aged 18-40 yrs with no family history of diabetes mellitus.
• All prospective volunteers will have routine blood tests to screen for biochemical, hormonal and hematological abnormalities.
• Female volunteers will also undergo an HCG urine pregnancy test.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Prior or current history of poor health
• Abnormal results following blood and physical examination
• Pregnancy