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Early Insulin May Help Diabetics Avoid It Later
posted 05/14/04
A short course of insulin therapy may help people newly
diagnosed with type 2 diabetes avoid this therapy later. Reducing blood glucose
quickly pays off in long run.
In type 2 diabetes, insulin production continues (unlike the situation in type 1
diabetes) but the body's response to the hormone is blunted. Standard drug
treatment is aimed at increasing sensitivity to insulin, but in some cases extra
insulin becomes necessary on an ongoing basis to ensure that glucose is
processed properly.
The new findings, which appear in the medical journal Diabetes Care, are based
on a study of 16 patients with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes who were treated
with intensive insulin therapy for 2 to 3 weeks. All of the subjects had high
blood sugar levels when the study began.
This short-term therapy produced a marked improvement in sugar levels, lead
author Dr. Edmond A. Ryan and colleagues, from the University of Alberta in
Edmonton, note. Moreover, this improvement was still present one year later.
At 1-year follow-up, only one patient required insulin, while the rest were able
to control their sugar levels with diet or pills. Predictors of good control
with diet alone included requiring less insulin during the initial treatment
phase, and having a lower sugar level at the end of that phase.
"The ease with which (normal sugar levels are) achieved on insulin may predict
those patients who can later succeed in controlling glucose levels with
attention to diet," the researchers conclude. "However, the numbers in this
study were small, and the results need confirmation with larger studies before
being considered as a routine clinical option."
Source: Diabetes In Control.com: Diabetes Care, May 2004.
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