A large trial involving diabetics has provided new evidence as to the best way to add insulin to standard drugs to control blood sugar levels with the progress of type 2 diabetes .
The University of Oxford research was published in the New England Journal of Medicine and presented at the World Diabetes Congress.
Participants who added insulin, either via once-a-day (basal) insulin injections or three injections at mealtimes, to their oral anti-diabetes drugs experienced better control of blood sugar level than those adding twice daily insulin injections .
Participants starting with one insulin injection every day also experienced fewer hypoglycaemic episodes (when blood sugar levels drop too low) and gained less weight.
'Type 2 diabetes is a progressive condition with the majority of patients eventually requiring insulin therapy,' states Professor Rury Holman, principal investigator of the study and director of the Diabetes Trials Unit at Oxford University. 'This large-scale study strengthens guidelines recommending adding a basal insulin to oral agents when glycaemic targets are not met.'
Improved control of blood sugar levels is considered to lower the risk of complications in type 2 diabetes, like loss of vision and kidney failure. With the progression of type 2 diabetes, the standard oral therapy usually needs to be escalated repeatedly over time.
'These results are going to help patients as well as healthcare professionals in routine clinical practice to work out which treatment is the most suitable for the individual.
Study Finds Best Use of Insulin with Progression of Type 2 Diabetes
Tue, 27 Oct 2009
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