Years of good blood sugar control helps diabetic hearts, study finds

Years of good blood sugar control helps diabetic hearts, study finds

This study is quite important for people suffering from Diabates type 2 since it
confirms that all the efforts they go through on a daily basis are really are worth it.

Day in and day out, for years on end, millions of people with diabetes prick their
fingers to test their blood sugar level. And many may wonder if all the careful eating,
exercise and medication it takes to keep those levels under control is really worth it.

A major new study should encourage them to keep going for the long haul, to protect
their hearts from diabetes-related damage. But it should also prompt them to work with
their doctors on other ways to reduce their cardiovascular risk.

The key finding: that keeping blood sugar levels under good control for many years can
reduce the risk of suffering a heart attack, stroke, heart failure or amputation by
about 17 percent.

And patients may not have to keep their blood sugar levels super-low to reap most of the
cardiovascular benefit. The authors concluded that a long-term average of about 8 on the
measurement called A1C hemoglobin was enough to achieve most of the benefit, but that
many patients can be safely lowered to around 7.

The results are reported in the June 4 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine by a
team from three VA hospitals, the VA Center for Clinical Management Research and the
University of Michigan Medical School. They show what happened to nearly 1,800 veterans
with Type 2 diabetes nearly 10 years after they signed up for a 6 year blood sugar study
that randomly assigned them to either get help achieving “tight” blood sugar control, or
regular care..

Full story link here:https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/06/150603181737.htm?