Brittle diabetes occurs no more frequently than in 1% to 2% of diabetics.

"It's true; he was always teetering on the edge with his frequent infections and his brittle diabetes.

Patients with brittle diabetes or recurrent staphylococcal infections are also unsuitable for infusion pumps.

One of the more serious complications of choledocholithiasis is acute pancreatitis, which may result in significant permanent pancreatic damage and brittle diabetes.

An insulin pump may be recommended for brittle diabetes to reduce the number of hypoglycemic episodes and better control the morning rise of blood sugar due to the dawn phenomenon.

Because brittle diabetes is defined as "episodes of hypoglycemia or hyperglycemia that, whatever their cause, constantly disrupt a patient's life", it can have many causes, some of which include:

Clinical trials have failed to demonstrate significant survival benefits of total pancreatectomy, mostly because patients who submit to this operation tend to develop a particularly severe form of diabetes called brittle diabetes.

Insulin-dependent diabetes characterized by dramatic and recurrent swings in glucose levels, often occurring for no apparent reason, is sometimes known as brittle diabetes, unstable diabetes or labile diabetes, although some experts say the "brittle diabetes" concept "has no biologic basis and should not be used".