NICE recommends tighter blood sugar control in diabetes to reduce risk of complications

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recommended tighter blood sugar control for patients with diabetes, to minimise the risk of long term vascular complications.

An updated NICE guideline on diagnosing and managing type 1 diabetes in adults recommends a target HbA_1c level of 48 mmol/mol (6.5%) or less1: this is lower than the clinical guideline on type 1 diabetes published in 2014, which recommended an HbA_1c target of less than 7.5% for prevention of microvascular disease and 6.5% or less in patients at increased risk of arterial disease.2

A target HbA_1c target level of 48 mmol/mol (6.5%) or lower is also recommended in children and young people with type 1 or 2 diabetes to minimise the risk of …