Feb 7, 2008

Diabetes And Social Security

Anyone who is involved to much extent with Social Security's disability programs knows that diabetes is the underlying cause for many disability claims. It has been an article of faith that diabetics would suffer less disability if they controlled their blood sugar better -- and that diabetics who did suffer disability might be at fault for being poorly compliant with medical treatment. Well, maybe not. See this article from the New York Times:
... a major federal study of more than 10,000 middle-aged and older people with Type 2 diabetes has found that lowering blood sugar actually increased their risk of death, researchers reported Wednesday. ...

Among the study participants who were randomly assigned to get their blood sugar levels to nearly normal, there were 54 more deaths than in the group whose levels were less rigidly controlled. The patients were in the study for an average of four years when investigators called a halt to the intensive blood sugar lowering and put all of them on the less intense regimen. ...

Medical experts were stunned.

1 comment:

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