LONDON, February 26 /PRNewswire/ --     Diabetic Hypoglycaemia (http://www.hypodiab.com), the influential online
diabetes journal published by ESP Bioscience, leads its new issue with an
editorial and feature article authored by Professor Christopher Ryan of the
Editorial Board, on the potentially deleterious effects of poor metabolic
control on the brain and central nervous system (CNS).

Professor Ryan's editorial focuses on the interesting point that,
although hypoglycaemia has previously been seen as a primary cause of brain
damage in children and adults with diabetes, it now appears likely that most
episodes of hypoglycaemia have no, or very little, permanent effect on the
CNS. He highlights that diabetic patients may manifest cognitive dysfunction,
regardless of whether they have had previous exposure to severe
hypoglycaemia. Professor Ryan points out that a long history of poor
metabolic control markedly increases the risk of damage to the brain, and
therefore hyperglycaemia may be far more damaging to the patient. His
accompanying feature article reviews the risks of CNS damage associated with
recurrent hypoglycaemia, concluding that "recurrent episodes of moderate or
severe hypoglycaemia do not appear to have long-term adverse effects on the
CNS of adults with diabetes."

Glycaemic control and the reduction of hyperglycaemia are crucial factors
in the treatment of diabetes, and this was re-emphasised in the recent
release of a statement by the American Diabetes Association (ADA), the
American Heart Association (AHA), and the American College of Cardiology
(ACC), highlighting the need for clinicians to continue to pursue a strategy
of intensive glycaemic control to reduce the risk of vascular events
(Circulation, January 2009). Professor Ryan's article and editorial provide
the important message that poor glycaemic control can also have deleterious
effects on the brain and CNS - this has also been recently confirmed in the
MIND sub-study of the ACCORD trial (Diabetes Care, February 2009).

This issue of Diabetic Hypoglycaemia also contains highlights of the 44th
Annual

Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) and
the 34th Annual Meeting of the International Society for Pediatric and
Adolescent Diabetes (ISPAD), plus an interview with one of the foremost
investigators on hypoglycaemia, Professor Robert Sherwin, who is currently
studying how blood glucose is sensed in the CNS and how hypoglycaemia affects
the brain.

Diabetic Hypoglycaemia is created with and run by an Editorial Board of
hypoglycaemia experts led by Professor Brian Frier (Edinburgh, UK) with
Associate Editors: Professor Simon Heller (Sheffield, UK), Professor
Christopher Ryan (Pittsburgh, USA) and Dr Rory McCrimmon (Yale, USA). The
journal is published three times per year, providing an interactive forum for
readers to share practical knowledge and opinions on the rapidly evolving
field of hypoglycaemia. To explore the Diabetic Hypoglycaemia website and its
key features, our guided tour can be activated by clicking the following
link: http://www.hypodiab.com/Teaser/hypodiab.html.

Initial support of the journal is provided by an unrestricted educational
grant from Novo Nordisk A/S (Bagsvaerd, Denmark).

About ESP Bioscience

ESP Bioscience (a division of ESP Limited) is a publisher of novel and
new medical information products and online medical communities, with
headquarters in Sandhurst, United Kingdom. Working in association with its
academic partners in the global healthcare community, ESP Bioscience
publishes journals, books and online resources.

Contact:
    Rebecca Drake, Editorial Manager
    E: enquiries@hypodiab.com
    T: +44(0)1344-762531
    F: +44(0)203-0514753