8 June 2008
Sydney, Australia
By Priyanka Bhattacharya

Around 40 million and still counting, a whopping statistic that has made India the diabetes capital of the world. And in most cases, diabetes brings about other complications such as heart disease and kidney problems, often leading to death.

However, now a new study could actually pave the way for a different approach to diabetes treatment.

Researchers have said that bringing down the blood sugar levels of a diabetic patient aggressively can actually save him from other health complications like heart attacks and kidney disease.

Bringing down blood sugar levels to 6.5 per cent reduces severe complications. The kidney diseases can be cut by 21 per cent while it can cut heart diseases by 30 per cent. The overall complications of diabetes are cut by 10 per cent.

In India, only 20 per cent diabetics have managed to keep their blood sugar levels close to this optimum mark.

“These findings reinforce that blood glucose lowering in diabetes is safe and has an important role to play in prevention of serious complication”, says Prof Anushka Patel of Georgia Institute.

The fear, however, is hypoglycemia or fall in the level of blood glucose kept under tight control. Experts warn that if a patient’s blood sugar lowers drastically, it could have serious problems including coma.

However, if the patient is under constant supervision, doctors believe the new study can help tackle diabetes more effectively.