Blood sugar control in liver cirrhosis and the impact of the late evening snack

Continuous glucose monitors have shown that some people with liver cirrhosis have high blood sugar after eating and low blood sugar overnight. We don’t yet understand if improved blood sugar control improves patient outcomes.

Medical professionals recommend that people with liver cirrhosis have a carbohydrate based late evening snack to prevent overnight muscle breakdown. There are no recommendations about what type of carbohydrates to have, and with 70% of people with liver cirrhosis having glucose intolerance, the type of carbohydrate may be important.

We also don’t know how well patients stick to the late evening snack recommendation.

Project aims

We will review the existing evidence on this topic to see where the gaps are, and use continuous glucose monitors to look at blood sugar levels of people with liver cirrhosis.

We will work with members of the Bristol Liver Group, a patient group. Their opinions of using these devices and whether they’re helpful will be key to designing and carrying out the project. We also want to find out about their understanding and opinions of the late evening snack recommendation.

What we hope to achieve

This fellowship project, led by Ben Hayes, is an important step in understanding the effect of the late evening snack on blood sugar control in people with liver cirrhosis, and whether types of carbohydrate should be considered in the recommendation.