Azza Abdulaziz Khalifa, Ali O El Rashid and Alaaeldin MK Bashier
Background: During Ramadan, Muslims fast for prolonged periods, which might predispose patients with diabetes to an increased risk of hypoglycemia. Liraglutide is an incretin that has been associated with reduced risk of hypoglycemia. Objective: We aimed to assess the safety and efficacy of liraglutide as an add-on therapy to existing anti-diabetic agents during Ramadan. Patients and methods: Arab patients prescribed liraglutide within the 6 weeks before Ramadan 2014 were recruited to the study. Demographic information and HbA1c levels were recorded at baseline and again within 4 weeks after Ramadan. A telephone call was made to check the frequencies of hypoglycemia during Ramadan. Results: Of the total of 111 participants, 76 (68.5%) of the participants were female. The mean age was 52.6 ± 10.1. Seventy-seven percent of the patients were aged between 40-60 years. Eighteen patients (16.2%) developed hypoglycemia during Ramadan. None of them required assistance by medical personnel or were admitted to the accident and emergency department. One hundred and five (94.6%) of the participants were on insulin, sulfonylurea or both. Patients who had had diabetes for a longer time had significantly higher frequencies of hypoglycemia during Ramadan (p=0.05). Conclusion: Adding liraglutide to ongoing anti-diabetic agents did not increase the risk of hypoglycemia.Furthermore, hypoglycemic events were directly related to the duration of diabetes; the longer the duration of diabetes, the more hypoglycemic events the patient had.