What is the dawn phenomenon?

The dawn phenomenon is something that's part of your normal physiology. Hormones work on a cycle. We have hormones that peak at certain times of the day and then fall as the day progresses and that's common in typical, normal physiology of endocrinology.

In the early morning hours, say between two or three o'clock in the morning, through around six or eight o'clock in the morning, some of these hormones are peaking. Those would be things like growth hormone, cortisol, adrenaline and others. These hormones peak at that time, and the normal response that the body would have would be to increase levels of insulin. Insulin controls blood sugar levels and can lower them. Those other hormones can raise them. In normal physiology, we have a balance of those hormones. As those hormones peak, insulin peaks and we can control our blood sugar in a very normal, steady level. In diabetes, you lose the balance, as is true with every disease in endocrinology. There's an excess or deficiency of these hormones and then we can see that as a disease. In this case, an abnormal elevation of blood sugar in the early morning hours.