Welcome to Medivizor!

You're browsing our sample library. Feel free to continue browsing. You can also sign up for free to receive medical information specific to your situation.

Posted by on Feb 23, 2013 in Diabetes mellitus | 2 comments

This article aimed to provide guidelines for setting personalized blood sugar level targets. The main conclusion was that these targets should be flexible and adapted to patients characteristics.

Type 2 diabetes usually requires tight blood sugar control in order to prevent and minimize complications. If control is not achieved through lifestyle changes, oral medications or Insulin may be needed. Patients who are older or have associated diseases (heart disease, kidney disease etc.) usually have difficulty reaching blood sugar targets. Social status and financial issues also play a significant role.

Blood sugar control is assessed using the HbA1c test (or glycated hemoglobin test). This measures the average blood sugar level over a 3 months’ period.

This article reviewed data from recent large clinical trials on type 2 diabetes. The authors analyzed whether setting higher blood sugar targets would significantly increase the risk of complications. Prevention of retinopathy (eyesight problems) and nephropathy (kidney disease) required tight blood sugar control, especially in the early stages of diabetes. However, cardiovascular events (heart attack, stroke) were not significantly influenced by the degree of blood sugar control.

For younger patients with few other diseases, who are able to follow a strict treatment schedule, the authors recommend an HbA1c level of 6% or less. In patients who had diabetes for a long time, who are older, have other diseases or have difficulty with their treatment, the HbA1c target can be raised to around 8%.

Blood sugar goals need to take into consideration a set of patient characteristics. These include: age, presence of complications, disease duration, ability to understand and follow treatment, social and economic factors. Depending on these characteristics, personalized blood sugar targets can be set.

Published By :

Annals of internal medicine

Date :

Apr 19, 2011

Original Title :

Individualizing Glycemic Targets in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: Implications of Recent Clinical Trials

click here to get personalized updates