New study results confirm, for the first time, that intensive treatment of diabetic patients results in a significantly lower risk of heart disease. In fact, it can cut the risk of cardiovascular disease nearly in half. Researchers say this is yet another proven benefit of the long-term effects of tight glucose control in patients with type 1 diabetes.
The new finding was announced on Sunday at the annual scientific meeting of the American Diabetes Association. The results stem from studying cardiovascular events in patients who took part in the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT) and a follow-up NIH study. The original DCCT results reported in 1993 showed a 50-60 percent reduction in eye, kidney, and nerve disease. Now researchers also know this treatment helps reduce severe cardiovascular events.
"This is exciting news for those coping with diabetes. This intensive treatment of glucose control could allow them to live longer with less suffering," said Stanley Schwartz, MD, the principal investigator on the DCCT follow-up study, called the Epidemiology of Diabetes Interventions and Complications (EDIC). Schwartz is also the Director of Diabetes Disease Management for the University of Pennsylvania Health System. "The EDIC study examined the long-term effects of an average of 6.5 years of conventional insulin treatment versus intensive insulin treatment."