People that begin a routine of intensive control of their blood glucose level as soon as possible after they have first been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes can live longer and have fewer health complications that result from their diabetes. The first long-term clinical trial that proves the improvement was presented in the edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association. The results are the combined work of 27 academic medical centers in the United States and Canada.
A regimen of scrupulous control of blood glucose resulted in a 33 percent reduction in death over the 31 years that the trials have been conducted. Cardiovascular disease was reduced by 22 percent and cancer was reduced by 20 percent in people that followed a scrupulous routine of blood glucose control. The incidences of blood glucose being too high or too low were reduced by an average of 17.5 percent in people that kept a close watch on their blood glucose levels.
The results are heralded as a landmark achievement by the National Institutes of Health. Not only do people that monitor their blood glucose levels scrupulously live longer the practice reduces the costs of medical care for people with diabetes by as much as 60 percent. The same routine has not been tested and confirmed with type 2 diabetes.
The ideas are simple. You must be tested annually for diabetes by a physician. If you are diagnosed with type 1 diabetes then you must control your blood glucose level by frequent testing and using the right drugs to control your blood glucose level. This close scrutiny means you may prick your finger more often but it means you live a lot longer and do not suffer from the complications that diabetes can cause to your health.
