(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- A new study points to the far-reaching effects of tight blood sugar control in people with type 1 diabetes. A study sponsored by the National Institutes of Health uncovered findings that reveal intensive glucose control can cut a diabetic's risk of heart disease and stroke by as much as 50 percent.

For the study, researchers enrolled more than 1,400 people with type 1 diabetes. The study participants were randomly assigned to use conventional treatment or intensive treatment. Conventional treatment was considered one or two insulin injections a day along with blood or urine glucose testing. Intensive treatment, on the other hand, meant either at least three insulin injections a day or the use of a pump in order to keep their glucose levels as close to normal as possible.

Saul Genuth, M.D., from Case Western University in Cleveland, notes, "We see a greater reduction in cardiovascular events from intensive blood glucose control than from drugs that lower blood pressure and cholesterol." Dr. Genuth is currently involved in a follow-up study that is comparing the long-term effects of prior intensive control with conventional control in individuals in the original study.

These findings are especially important considering people with type 1 diabetes have a 10-times greater risk of heart disease than people without diabetes. Nearly 21 million people in the United States have diabetes and at least 65 percent of those are most likely to die from heart attack or stroke. Type 1 diabetes accounts for about 5 percent to 10 percent of all cases of diabetes.

In addition to the benefit it has on the heart, intensive glucose control has also been found to reduce the risk of damage to the eyes, nerves and kidneys as well as the risk of atherosclerosis in this group.


SOURCE: New England Journal of Medicine, 2005;353:2643-2653