CYBERKEN, Here's recent Reuter's report which should be good news if AMLN can demonstrate a decreased requirement for insulin in type II:
C H I C A G O, Nov. 25 - Victims of
the most common form of diabetes
have an extremely difficult time
controlling their blood sugar through
conventional use of insulin.
"Insulin therapy was found to be largely
ineffective in achieving tight blood sugar
control, even when combined with
substantial increases in a patient's visits to the
doctor's office and home blood sugar
monitoring," said Rodney Hayward, a
researcher at the Ann Arbor Veterans
Affairs Medical Center in Michigan.
The study, published in this week's
Journal of the American Medical
Association, involved more than 8,600
patients with "type 2" or adult onset
diabetes.
About nine in 10 diabetics have this form
of the disease, in which the pancreas
produces some, but not enough, insulin. In
the United States alone there are an
estimated 9 million type 2 diabetics and the
disease is a leading cause of blindness,
kidney failure and amputation.
Aggressive Treatment Needed
From 30 percent to 40 percent of type 2
diabetics are on insulin therapy, the study
said. The researchers said that insulin
treatments significantly improved blood sugar
control for those with poor control but rarely
approached the goal of near normal levels.
"Much more aggressive treatment is
needed for the 10 to 15 percent of patients
who currently have poor glycemic control,"
Hayward said, "because otherwise they are
at high risk of blindness, kidney failure and
nerve damage."
Hayward said the the study was the first
to evaluate insulin therapy where patients
were under less intensive care and managed
by primary care doctors.
Mayer Davidson, a Los Angeles area
physician who is president of the American
Diabetes Association, said in an interview
that the study "confirms what a lot of us
know-that diabetic control can be
improved on but even with insulin there are
certain barriers . the patients are part of it
but not entirely. Many don't get educated."
He said insulin therapy was very hard to
manage and the system was not set up to
educate patients well. He said doctors often
did not have the time to properly instruct and
supervise treatment. |
