Intensive blood sugar control doesn ’t have lasting cardiovascular benefits for those with diabetes

In 2009, the New England Journal of Medicine published results from the Veterans Affairs Diabetes Trial (VADT). The study found that intensive glucose (blood sugar) control in older men with longstanding type 2 diabetes did not significantly reduce their risk of major cardiovascular (CV) events, including heart attack, stroke, and death from CV causes, compared with standard blood sugar control. Researchers recently reported 15-year follow-up results from VADT. They found that intensive blood sugar control did not exert any “legacy effect”: the intensive blood sugar control group did not enjoy CV benefits 15 years after the start of the study. The Veterans Affairs Diabetes Trial The VADT study originally enrolled over 1,700 veterans with longstanding type 2 diabetes, who were at high risk of cardiovascular disease, and had poorly controlled blood sugar when they enrolled in the study. At the time of enrollment, study participants had been diagnosed with diabetes for an average of 12 years. Their average A1c level, a measure of average blood sugar levels over the previous two to three months, was 9.4%. The participants were randomly assigned to either intensive glucose-lowering therapy or usual care for about 5.6 years. At the completion of the study, there was a significant difference in blood sugar control: the average A1c in the intensive treatment group was 6.9%, while the average A1c in the usual care group was 8.4%. Despite the lower A1c levels, there were no benefit...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Diabetes Heart Health Source Type: blogs