Tight Blood Sugar Control No More Beneficial Than Current Standards Among Type 2 Diabetes Patients (Interview with Dr. William Duckworth, MD, Phoenix VA Hospital)

Tight Blood Sugar Control No More Beneficial Than Current Standards Among Type 2 Diabetes Patients (Interview with Dr. William Duckworth, MD, Phoenix VA Hospital)
InsiderMedicine.ca

(January 7, 2009 - Insidermedicine) Controlling blood sugar intensely is no more beneficial than current standards of blood sugar control among those with type 2 diabetes, according to research in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Some of the health risks associated with type 2 diabetes include:

• Heart disease or stroke

• Blindness

• Reduced blood supply to the limbs, leading to amputation

Researchers representing the Veterans Affairs Diabetes Trial (VADT) randomly assigned nearly 1,800 military veterans with longstanding type 2 diabetes to receive treatment that controlled their blood sugar levels very tightly or that used standard targets for controlling blood sugar.

After an average of nearly six years, those in the tightly controlled blood sugar group had blood sugar levels which remained lower than those who received standard care. There was no difference between the two groups, however, with respect to the development of cardiovascular events, death rates, or other monitored complications of diabetes. Those in the intensive blood sugar control group did experience more adverse events from their treatment, particularly hypoglycemia.

We had a chance to speak with Dr. William Duckworth, the principal investigator of this study, who offered some further insight.

Today's research suggests that tightly controlling blood sugar does not benefit those with longstanding type 2 diabetes. These patients should focus on controlling other risk factors for cardiovascular disease.

For Insidermedicine in Depth, I'm Dr. Susan Sharma.