In Diabetics, Controlling Five Risk Factors Can Eliminate Excess Risk Of Complications and Death

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Recent Trends in Diabetes Care

Patients with diabetes are at high risk of death and complications like heart attack and stroke. With time, our understanding of diabetes has become better, and with ongoing advancements in treatment and prevention, many positive trends have been noted in diabetes care.

One encouraging fact in diabetes care was recently revealed by a Swedish study that was done on 271,174 patients suffering from Type 2 diabetes who were registered with their national registry. The study showed that patients with type 2 diabetes with five risk factors within the target range had an extremely low risk of premature death, heart attack, and stroke.

As per the press release from the Swedish authorities "By optimizing these five risk factors, all of which can be influenced, you can come a long way. We have shown that the risks can be greatly reduced, and in some cases may even be eliminated." The five risk factors for complications and death in diabetics being referred include elevated levels of blood pressure, glycated hemoglobin, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, urine protein, and smoking.

Reducing Diabetic Complications and Deaths Due To Diabetes

By simple interventions directed at controlling one's blood pressure, HbA1C, LDL-C, urine albumin, and stopping smoking, one can greatly reduce or even eliminate the excess risk of death and disease that comes due to diabetes.

Achieving adequate control of all the five risk factors requires lifestyle modifications as well as adherence to medication.

Another population-based study from the UK considered control of four risk factors in diabetic patients with preexisting kidney damage.

The study found that Even in diabetics who had chronic kidney disease, adequate control of the other four factors, namely, blood pressure, glycated hemoglobin, total cholesterol, and stopping smoking reduced the risk of death and complications.

Type 2 Diabetes Shows Greater Benefits

Type 2 diabetes can be mostly managed with oral medications, is the commonest form of diabetes, and as a percentage accounts for about 90 % of cases.

Type 1 diabetes, which requires injections of insulin in almost all cases, accounts for most of the other cases and has a more severe course than Type 2 diabetes.

The Swedish study group also conducted a similar study for Type 1 diabetes last year but found that though results were positive, they were less encouraging than the current study, probably because of the severe nature of type 1 diabetes, disease, and problems with adherence to insulin injections.

About the author: Dr. Naval Asija is a licensed MBBS Physician from India. MBBS is the equivalent of the MD degree offered by international medical schools. He is based in Delhi, India, and works as a medical writer, editor, and consultant. He supports medical researches as an author's editor, medical communication companies involved in medico-marketing activities, and medical technology companies in improving their products. He can be contacted via his LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/navalasija/

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