A new study has shown that doctors should cautiously prescribe intensive treatment for lowering glucose in type-2 diabetics for reducing heart complications.
The study was conducted by a French team of researchers, led by Catherine Cornu at the Louis Pradel Hospital in Bron, France, and was published in the British Medical Journal. It showed that the treatment did not provide any benefit in cardiovascular or all-cause mortality.
Using Glycaemic lowering treatments is common practice in the case of treating type 2 diabetics for preventing long term cardiovascular complications as well as visual and renal impairment; however, no study has been able to indentify clear and universal benefits of the therapy.
Therefore, the research team conducted a review of studies that examined microvascular complications and cardiovascular events related to the intensity of glycaemic control as well as the quality of trials.
The analysis included a total of 34,533 patients, out of whom 16,218 received standard treatment and 18,315 received intensive glucose lowering treatment.
From the study findings, it is evident that intensive glucose treatment did not have a significant effect on cardiovascular death or all-cause mortality.
The researchers did find, however, that the intensive treatment reduced risk of non-fatal heart attacks by 15 percent and microalbuminuria — a condition that indicatives heart- and kidney-related problems — by10 percent. However, the treatment also doubled the risk of severe hypoglycaemia (dangerously low blood glucose levels).
According to the researchers, over a period of five years, 117-150 of the type 2 diabetics would require treatment for avoiding one heart attack, 32-142 for avoiding one microalbuminuria case , and 15-52 for avoiding one severe hypoglycaemica case.
The research team concluded: “Intensive glucose lowering treatment of type 2 diabetes should be considered with caution and therapeutic escalation should be limited.”
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