Correlation of Human Fasting Blood Sugar with Grip Muscle Strength and Reflex Response Time

Abstract

In humans, one of the major complications of chronic Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is Peripheral Neuropathy. Apparently linked to ischemic Nerve damage, a ravaging puzzle on its pathophysiology, onset prediction, and prognosis is yet to be fully uncovered. Today, what seems to be a major “breakthrough” is the discovery that chronic DM damages signal transduction across Nerve and Muscle tissues, leading to a bad and/or poorly coordinated reflex. The goal of this study was to find in humans, the relationship that binds fasting blood sugar (FBS) with grip muscle strengths and reflex response time. To achieve this, 387 humans were ethically sourced from Ethiope East Local government area of Delta State, Nigeria. Based on their glucometer readings, subjects were then gender-sorted and classified into 3 groups; A (hypoglycaemic), B (normoglycaemic or control), and C (hyperglycaemic). Using the hand-grip dynamometer (HGD) and Meter rule, subjects’ Grip Muscle strengths (GMS) and Reflex Response times (RRT) were respectively obtained and mapped against their corresponding glucometer reading (FBS). Using the Pearson Product moment correlation coefficient, Statistical measure of association (correlation) was conducted on obtained variables, and ANOVA was used to analyse the differences between means of each groups. Though no actual difference(s) was/were found between GMS and RRT, apparently, there was a weak Auditory-FBS relationship in hypoglycaemic females, and a weak GMS-FBS, plus Tactile-FBS correlations in hypoglycaemic males and females respectively.