According to a researcher and diabetes expert, doctors with diabetic patients should be aiming for much lower levels of blood glucose than is currently suggested by the guidelines.
William Cefalu, M.D.,of the Pennington Biomedical Research Center, says the currently recommended blood-sugar levels are not low enough to avoid one of the major complications of diabetes, heart disease.
Referring to recently published research, Dr. Cefalu says that if the medical community believes long-term control of blood sugar levels can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, then a reassessment of the clinical goals may be needed.
The research shows that more aggressive control of blood sugar levels, by use of a more intensive insulin regimen, appears to help avoid long-term cardiovascular disease.
At present doctors on the advice of the American Diabetes Association, tell their patients with Type 1,(juvenile diabetes), and Type 2, (adult-onset diabetes), to maintain adequate long-term blood glucose control by achieving an A1c test of 7 percent.
This is a simple test commonly used by doctors in their office to determine blood sugar levels, and measures the amount of blood sugar attached to hemoglobin, a protein found in red blood cells.
A normal level is considered to be around 6-percent.
As new research reveals that long-term, more intensive control of blood sugar levels leads to far less cardiovascular disease, Cefalu believes the medical community should rethink its advice to patients.
Cefalu also suggests that because the effects on the cardiovascular system are seen in younger individuals with Type 1 diabetes compared to non-diabetic individuals, the blood-sugar levels for juveniles should be revised downward from the current guidelines of 8 percent for ages 6 through 12 and 7.5 percent for ages 13 through 19.