Long-Term Study Shows Diabetes Rates Are Unchanged

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Indeed, although focusing primarily on blood-glucose control has significantly decreased early death in type 1 diabetics, the data from this study suggests these individuals remain significantly burdened with other serious chronic diseases. "We were, in fact, both surprised and disappointed that there were no improvements in cardiovascular and retinopathy disease rates, particularly because other complications improved so dramatically," said Trevor Orchard, M.D., professor of epidemiology, medicine and pediatrics at GSPH and principal investigator of the EDC. "Our data show that focusing solely on blood-glucose control is only postponing, not preventing, some of the more significant complications of this disease."

More than 700,000 Americans have type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune disorder in which the body errantly attacks the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas. Type 1 diabetes, which is usually diagnosed in children and young adults, is the leading cause of new cases of blindness among adults aged 20 to 74 years and also is the leading cause of kidney failure in the U.S. Two out of three people with diabetes die from heart disease and stroke, and about 60 percent to 70 percent have mild-to-severe forms of nervous-system damage. Ten times as many people in the U.S. have type 2 diabetes-or adult-onset diabetes-which is most often the result of cells in the body becoming resistant to the effects of insulin. It is most often easier to manage than type 1 diabetes.

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Long-Term Study Shows Diabetes Rates Are Unchanged

PITTSBURGH-In one of the most comprehensive, long-term studies to date of the complications associated with type 1 diabetes, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health discovered that while cases of premature death and a few other complications have declined, rates of oth...

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