Posted on January 27, 2009 by Joel Shpigel R.Ph.

Intensive Insulin Therapy Reduces Mortality in Seriously Ill Children

 

A new European study suggests that intensive insulin therapy may reduce the risk of death, infection and the length of intensive care stays for seriously ill children,

Abnormally high blood sugar (hyperglycemia) often occurs in critically ill infants and children, and increases their risk of secondary infections and death.

"Targeting of blood glucose concentrations to age-adjusted normal fasting concentrations improved short-term outcome of patients in pediatric intensive care units. The effect on long-term survival, morbidity, and neurocognitive development needs to be investigated,"Dr. Greet Van den Berghe, of University Hospital Gasthuisberg and Catholic University Leuven, Belgium, and colleagues wrote in a journal news release.

 

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Posted on September 11, 2008 by Joel Shpigel R.Ph.

Early Treatment with Insulin Reduces Risk of Death by 13% for People with Diabetes

A study recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine, followed 3,277 newly diagnosed Type 2 diabetes patients who were asked to tightly manage their blood sugar either through diet restrictions or drugs.

The results show that the group taking insulin had a 15 percent lower risk of heart attack and a 13 percent lower risk of death compared with the group who used diet. The early, intensive approach to blood sugar control amounted to a head start. The researchers call this the "Legacy Effect."

 "These results emphasize the importance of detecting and treating diabetes at the earliest opportunity and the major benefits that can be obtained with good blood glucose control."  said Professor Rury Holman, of Oxford University, who led the study.

Intensive and not-so-intensive approaches to blood pressure were also compared among the diabetes patients in the study. When the study ended, the patients who took the intensive approach were less likely to have died from diabetes, had a stroke or developed diabetes-related complications.

It's not news that controlling blood sugar and blood pressure are musts for managing type 2 diabetes. But the new findings show that doing so promptly and intensively will lead to a lower likelihood of a heart attack as well as a healthier cardiovascular system.

 

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