Blood glucose variance measured by continuous glucose monitors across the menstrual cycle

Autor: Georgianna Lin, Rumsha Siddiqui, Zixiong Lin, Joanna M. Blodgett, Shwetak N. Patel, Khai N. Truong, Alex Mariakakis
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2023
Předmět:
Zdroj: npj Digital Medicine, Vol 6, Iss 1, Pp 1-8 (2023)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 2398-6352
DOI: 10.1038/s41746-023-00884-x
Popis: Abstract Past studies on how blood glucose levels vary across the menstrual cycle have largely shown inconsistent results based on limited blood draws. In this study, 49 individuals wore a Dexcom G6 continuous glucose monitor and a Fitbit Sense smartwatch while measuring their menstrual hormones and self-reporting characteristics of their menstrual cycles daily. The average duration of participation was 79.3 ± 21.2 days, leading to a total of 149 cycles and 554 phases in our dataset. We use periodic restricted cubic splines to evaluate the relationship between blood glucose and the menstrual cycle, after which we assess phase-based changes in daily median glucose level and associated physiological parameters using mixed-effects models. Results indicate that daily median glucose levels increase and decrease in a biphasic pattern, with maximum levels occurring during the luteal phase and minimum levels occurring during the late-follicular phase. These trends are robust to adjustments for participant characteristics (e.g., age, BMI, weight) and self-reported menstrual experiences (e.g., food cravings, bloating, fatigue). We identify negative associations between each of daily estrogen level, step count, and low degrees of fatigue with higher median glucose levels. Conversely, we find positive associations between higher food cravings and higher median glucose levels. This study suggests that blood glucose could be an important parameter for understanding menstrual health, prompting further investigation into how the menstrual cycle influences glucose fluctuation.
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals