(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Diabetes patients treated with drugs may be less at
risk for some major complications of their disease even after therapy is
discontinued, new research shows.
Researchers followed up on the large-scale United Kingdom Prospective Diabetes
Study (UKPDS) by selecting patients and following their progress for 10 years.
Although intensive glucose therapy was administered during UKPDS, therapy was
discontinued during the follow-up study to determine its long-term effects on
microvascular and macrovascular complications.
Microvascular complications involve the small blood vessels and can lead to
problems like neuropathy, whereas macrovascular complications involve the large
blood vessels and can lead to heart disease.
Although study results show differences in blood sugar levels were lost after
one year, patients continued to be less at risk for microvascular complications
and heart attack after therapy.
More specifically, in overweight patients who received metformin (Glucophage),
the risk of any diabetes-related complication was reduced by 21 percent, the
risk of heart attack by 33 percent and the risk of death by 27 percent. Those
treated with sulfonylurea (Amaryl) saw a nine percent reduction in their risk of
diabetes-related complications, a 24 percent reduction in risk of microvascular
disease, a 15 percent reduction in risk of heart attack and a 13 percent
reduction in risk of death.
“Our results highlight the added importance of glucose lowering in reducing the
risk of coronary events and death from any cause,” study authors wrote. “The
findings strengthen the rationale for attaining optimal glycemic control and
indicate emergent long-term benefits on cardiovascular risk.”
SOURCE: New England Journal of Medicine, 2008;359:1565-1576
