Reducing cardiovascular risk in diabetics

According to a report, diabetics who are given more ambitious goals for lowering their blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar are less likely to suffer from cardiovascular problems than patients whose doctors set less ambitious treatment goals. Cardiovascular problems pose a major risk to diabetics and intensive targeted interventions can reduce it. Researchers from the Steno Diabetes Centre, Copenhagen, Denmark offered intensive treatment consisting of a doctor, nurse and dietician, all focused on helping patients keep up with their medications and stay healthy, such as with diet and exercise. In contrast, patients with less ambitious goals to reduce risk factors for health problems only visited a doctor during each consultation, although both groups received approximately the same number of consultations. All of the patients in the current study were considered to have a high risk of cardiovascular problems because they excreted small amounts of the protein albumin in their urine. This condition is a sign that they have a defect in their blood vessels which can put them at risk of cardiovascular problems. Patients received blood pressure-lowering drugs like ACE inhibitors with cholesterol-lowering drugs. Patients given less ambitious treatment goals received ACE inhibitors if they had high blood pressure. After following 160 patients for an average of eight years, researchers noted that the 80 patients who received the intensive treatment were about 50% less likely to experience a cardiovascular problem than patients offered less ambitious goals for diabetes treatment.