UNITED STATES 6-10 June 2008 68th Scientific Sessions of American Diabetes Association. Treatment controversy

A challenge before the physicians and others meeting for the 68th Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association in San Francisco, California, is sorting out whether the conventional treatment for diabetes poses a deadly risk. Conflicting information from two recent studies has left some 20 million Americans with type 2 diabetes in limbo.

In February the Federal government stopped one part of a study on diabetes, saying it posed a risk. An independent panel of experts had discovered an elevated risk of death in diabetics who were being aggressively treated to bring blood sugar levels down to near-normal levels. The news shocked diabetes experts and patients alike because it challenges the conventional wisdom: diabetic patients who kept blook sugar close to normal levels were thought to be better off.

The ACCORD (Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes) study is the first large-scale research to see whether controlling blood sugar levels could reduct the risk of heart disease in people who have diabetes. Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death for people with type 2 diabetes. The researchers recruited 10,250 diabetics with long-term diabetes for the study.

Shock turned to confusion days later when an international team doing similar research, the ADVANCE study (Action in Diabetes and Vascular disease; preterAx and diamicroN-MR Controlled Evaluation), reported contradictory results. This international trial, which involved 11,140 high-risk patients with type 2 diabetes, found no evidence of increased risk of death among patients receiving intensive blood glucose-lowering treatment.

US and international researchers have gone back to assess the data, and their findings will be aired at the June meeting.

The number of people afflicted with type 2 diabetes is rising, fueled by rising obesity. The disease is more comon in people who are overweight. May/08

RELATED READING:

Diabetes study halted after safety review reveals risk (USA Today 6 Feb 2008)
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-02-06-diabetes_N.htm

Study: 73 million have diabetes or are at risk in US (USA Today 29 May 2006)
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2006-05-29-diabetes-study_x.htm