According to a number of studies conducted recently, treatment strategies to eliminate factors that lead to heart disease do not provide any benefits. In fact they may increase the risk of side effects in patients.
One of the studies states that lowering blood sugar level increased the chances of stroke among patients.
ACCORD’s clinical trial
The study by Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes (ACCORD) evaluates the effect of drug therapies to reduce the combined risk of cardiovascular diseases.
According to the American Diabetes Association, approximately 23.6 million people in the nation or 7.8 percent of the population have diabetes.
For this, ACCORD studied 10,251 participants between ages of 40 and 79, who were at the risk of heart attacks, strokes, for a period of 10 years.
The clinical trials studied strategies used to control intensive blood pressure, blood sugar, and to treat multiple blood lipids.
No conclusive evidence found
In one part of the study, William C. Cushman, M.D., chief of the Preventive Medicine Section, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Memphis, studied 4,733 participants with elevated blood pressure.
A number of FDA-approved blood pressure drugs were used to control the blood pressure.
After studying the patients, the researchers concluded that there was “no conclusive evidence” that lowering blood pressure “lowers the overall risk of major cardiovascular events.”
In second part of the study, Dr. Henry N. Ginsberg of the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, analyzed 5,518 patients who had high cholesterol levels, and found that lowering cholesterol levels did not lower risk of stroke.
In a statement, Susan B. Shurin, M.D., acting director of the NIH's National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), the primary sponsor of ACCORD, said that the clinical trial will “help guide treatment recommendations for adults with type 2 diabetes who have had a heart attack or stroke or who are otherwise at especially high risk for cardiovascular disease.”
Effects of lowering glucose
In June, 2008, ACCORD had released the results of a study done to analyze the effects of lowering intensive glucose in patients with Type 2 Diabetes.
It had concluded that the use of intensive therapy to reach “normal glycated hemoglobin levels” did not lower the risk of cardiovascular events. In fact, the therapy only increased mortality.
About diabetes and its consequences
According to the American Diabetes Association, approximately 23.6 million people in the nation or 7.8 percent of the population have diabetes.
Our of the various forms of the problem, Type 2 diabetes is the most common and millions of Americans have been diagnosed with this.
In Type 2 diabetes, either the body does not produce enough insulin or the cells ignore insulin, which is essential to take the sugar from the blood to the cells. As a consequence, the person has to face diabetes complications.
Majority of the patients with diabetes have high blood pressure, hyper tension.
Some patients also have eye complications like, retinopathy, a disorder of the retina, or skin complications like bacterial infections, fungal infections, and itching.
The most severe consequence of diabetes is stroke. Nearly 2 out of 3 people with diabetes die from heart attack due to conditions like high blood pressure, abnormal blood cholesterol levels, smoking etc.
Actually part of the
Actually part of the concerning data in recent studies has been that statins used to lower cholesterol levels may promote diabetes. In addition the whole notion of lowering cholesterol is being questioned. The Framingham study evidence underlying the “lipid hypothesis” was never strong to start with. Since then a massive lipid lowering campaign has shown no effect on heart disease rates. While an elegant and seemingly intuitive hypothesis, more and more openly people are rightly questioning the wisdom of the cholesterol lowering campaign.
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