New research from China has some good news for diabetics. A study has found that a short course of intensive insulin treatment may delay the progression of the disease in people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.
The research suggests that patients who had an initial course of insulin injections did better a year later than those given a short course of oral diabetes drugs. The 380 patients involved in the trial were later managed with the standard diet and exercise regime and experts say this short course of intensive insulin could be a new approach for some patients.
The vast majority of diabetics suffer from type 2 diabetes, where the body does not produce enough insulin or the insulin that is produced does not work properly and is often linked to obesity and physical inactivity - type 1 diabetes is an auto-immune disease usually diagnosed at an early age.
As a rule diabetes is managed by making lifestyle changes and medication where necessary and other research has also suggested that initial intensive therapy to get blood sugar levels under control could change or delay the natural course of the disease.
Too much glucose, or blood sugar, in the blood can damage the eyes and kidneys, and also leads to heart disease, stroke and limb amputations.
In the trial the patients aged 25 to 70 were given an infusion of insulin, daily insulin injections or oral anti-diabetic tablets, for a two week period after normal blood glucose levels were achieved.
It was found that most of those given insulin were able to meet blood glucose targets in four to five days compared with nine days for those given oral drugs.
After a year, 51% of patients given an insulin infusion and 45% of those given insulin injections had maintained their good blood glucose levels by maintaining a diet and exercise programme.
However only 27% of those who had initially been treated with oral drugs still had good blood glucose control.
The researchers say the early insulin treatment appeared to have restored the function of insulin-producing beta cells in the body as tests showed the cells had a better response to insulin after treatment and the effect was sustained after a year.
Professor Jianping Weng, the lead author, says good diabetes control, especially early intensive blood sugar control, can eliminate the damage caused by high blood sugar levels and rescue injured beta-cells.