T_Dia
06-09-2008, 02:42 PM
Lowering blood sugar levels to near normal through intensive treatment might reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and heart attacks in Type 2 diabetics, but only if treatment is begun relatively soon after diagnosis and if severe episodes of low blood sugar can be avoided, Veterans Administration researchers reported Sunday.
New findings from the Veterans Affairs Diabetes Trial might help to resolve many concerns raised by two other widely reported studies — the first found no apparent benefit from such treatment, and the second concluded that intensive treatment might be detrimental.
Data from all three studies were presented during the weekend at a San Francisco meeting of the American Diabetes Association, and although many questions remain unanswered, some generalizations are becoming possible.
Data from all three studies suggest that the greatest reduction in the risk of heart attacks and cardiovascular disease is achieved by lowering cholesterol levels and controlling high blood pressure. Controlling glucose, at best, can provide only a small further reduction in risk, and such a reduction might take many years to become apparent.
But that does not mean that so-called tight control of blood glucose levels is not a good idea. Data from two of the studies confirm earlier findings that such control reduces the risk of kidney and eye disease, which are also diabetes complications.
Data from the three studies might ease concerns about the oral diabetes drug rosiglitazone. A meta-analysis last year combining results from many previous studies suggested that the drug, sold under the brand name Avandia, increases the risk of heart attacks and death among those taking it.
But the new studies showed no such effects from the drug, which is still in wide use.
Researchers have been looking for ways to reduce the cardiovascular risks of diabetes because 65 percent to 70 percent of deaths among Type 2 diabetics are caused by heart problems.
About 95 percent of the patients in the VA study, which looked at 1,800 patients over more than 7 years, had one hypoglycemic event during the study, said statistician Thomas Moritz of the Hines VA Hospital in Hines, Ill. But those who had more than one such event had more than a doubling of the risk of cardiovascular death and a tripling of the risk of any type of death, he said.
Full Article (http://www.courant.com/news/nationworld/hc-a2digbriefs0609.art11jun09,0,1885798.story).
New findings from the Veterans Affairs Diabetes Trial might help to resolve many concerns raised by two other widely reported studies — the first found no apparent benefit from such treatment, and the second concluded that intensive treatment might be detrimental.
Data from all three studies were presented during the weekend at a San Francisco meeting of the American Diabetes Association, and although many questions remain unanswered, some generalizations are becoming possible.
Data from all three studies suggest that the greatest reduction in the risk of heart attacks and cardiovascular disease is achieved by lowering cholesterol levels and controlling high blood pressure. Controlling glucose, at best, can provide only a small further reduction in risk, and such a reduction might take many years to become apparent.
But that does not mean that so-called tight control of blood glucose levels is not a good idea. Data from two of the studies confirm earlier findings that such control reduces the risk of kidney and eye disease, which are also diabetes complications.
Data from the three studies might ease concerns about the oral diabetes drug rosiglitazone. A meta-analysis last year combining results from many previous studies suggested that the drug, sold under the brand name Avandia, increases the risk of heart attacks and death among those taking it.
But the new studies showed no such effects from the drug, which is still in wide use.
Researchers have been looking for ways to reduce the cardiovascular risks of diabetes because 65 percent to 70 percent of deaths among Type 2 diabetics are caused by heart problems.
About 95 percent of the patients in the VA study, which looked at 1,800 patients over more than 7 years, had one hypoglycemic event during the study, said statistician Thomas Moritz of the Hines VA Hospital in Hines, Ill. But those who had more than one such event had more than a doubling of the risk of cardiovascular death and a tripling of the risk of any type of death, he said.
Full Article (http://www.courant.com/news/nationworld/hc-a2digbriefs0609.art11jun09,0,1885798.story).