Patients with diabetes can be treated with hormones in special circumstances, such as infectious toxic shock, severe allergic reactions, and immune system disorders such as systemic lupus erythematosus and nephrotic syndrome.
Because hormones can affect blood glucose, especially with high-dose hormone shock therapy or long-term hormone therapy regimens, they can often cause dramatic fluctuations in blood glucose. Therefore, during hormone use, we should closely monitor blood glucose changes and adjust glucose-lowering regimens based on blood glucose values if necessary to prevent serious diabetic complications such as diabetic ketoacidosis and acute cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events due to dramatic fluctuations in blood glucose.
The effect of hormones on blood glucose is mainly on postprandial blood glucose, but not on fasting blood glucose. The choice of glucose-lowering regimen during the application of hormone therapy in patients with diabetes is roughly the same as in type 2 diabetes. It includes the change of living habits, the regulation of oral hypoglycemic drugs, and the use of insulin, which can be flexibly adjusted according to the blood glucose control situation. As the hormone dose decreases, the effect on blood glucose will gradually diminish.