People with type 1 diabetes who keep their blood sugar under control early-on in the disease tend to live longer than those who do not, new research suggests.
Type 1 diabetes generally begins in a person's younger years, and occurs when the body does not produce enough insulin, the National Institutes of Health reported.
"The outlook for people with type 1 diabetes continues to improve," said Catherine Cowie, Ph.D., of NIH's National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), the primary funder of the study. "These results show that by tightly controlling their blood glucose, people with type 1 diabetes can live longer."
The researchers looked at data collected since 1983 on 1,441 people between ages 13 and 39 who had recent-onset type 1 diabetes. In the DCCT/EDIC study the participants were randomly assigned to either intensive blood glucose control or to keep their glucose as close to safe levels as possible. After a period of 10 years the intensive group was found to have lower numbers of eye, nerve and kidney disease; there was also a 33 percent lower rate of death in the intensive group after 27 years.
"These results build on earlier studies, which suggested that increased protein in the urine largely accounts for shorter lifespans for people with type 1 diabetes," said the study's lead author, Trevor Orchard, M.D., a professor at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health. "These results further emphasize the importance of good early glucose control, as this reduces the risk for increased protein in the urine in general, as well as diabetic kidney disease."
Diabetes is seen in more than 29 million Americans and these findings could help delay fatal diseases in these patients, or even prevent them completely.
The findings were published Jan. 6 in the Journal of the American Medical Association
