BMJ 1999;318:666 ( 6 March )

Letters

Treating type 2 diabetes

    Study was conducted in exemplary fashion
    Difference needs to be explained
    Numbers needed to treat need to be clarified
    Important findings should not be published in two journals
    Authors' reply

Study was conducted in exemplary fashion

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR---The United Kingdom Prospective Diabetes Study has shown over 10 years of follow up that people with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes can maintain excellent glycaemic control (concentrations of haemoglobin A1c of 7%) and that this can significantly reduce microvascular complications.1 It has also shown that strict blood pressure control can significantly reduce mortality as well as microvascular and macrovascular complications among these people.2 The study group thus answered its primary research questions. The design of the study meant that several secondary questions could not be answered convincingly.3 Several lessons in ethics and public health can, however, be learnt.

The fact that the comparison group maintained a comparatively low concentration of haemoglobin A1c (7.9%) over 10 years of follow up means that the researchers were ethical to the point of risking a null finding. In contrast, in their enthusiasm to establish the efficacy of specific treatment(s) some investigators replace standard drug . . . [Full text of this article]
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Relevant Article

Tight blood pressure control and risk of macrovascular and microvascular complications in type 2 diabetes: UKPDS 38
UK Prospective Diabetes Study Group
BMJ 1998 317: 703-713. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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