Dr. Ismail-Beigi said that the study indicates the importance of individualized, patient-centered therapy for patients. A decision on the aggressiveness of therapy depends on what stage of the disease patients are in. For those patients who are newly diagnosed with diabetes, intensive, aggressive therapy could delay the onset of some of the complications of diabetes, such as kidney disease and eye problems. For patients who have had diabetes 10 years or longer and have complicating heart factors, intense therapy would not be prudent because of the associated higher risk of cardiovascular death.

The National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, which sponsored this landmark study, prematurely halted the intensive blood-glucose lowering strategy after 3.5 years, in February 2008, due to safety concerns caused by an unexpected higher incidence of death in the intensive glucose lowering treatment group compared with the standard treatment group. Patients in the intensive treatment arm of the study were transitioned into the standard treatment arm for the remainder of the trial's five years, which has now concluded.

Other portions of the ACCORD trial confirmed that neither more intensive lowering of blood pressure nor treatment of blood lipids with a fibrate and a statin drug reduce cardiovascular risk in people with established type 2 diabetes who are at severely high risk for cardiovascular events.

Source: University Hospitals Case Medical Center