JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Jan. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) and the American College of Endocrinology (ACE) applaud the important findings in the December 22, 2005, The New England Journal of Medicine article “Intensive Diabetes Treatment and Cardiovascular Disease in Patients with Type 1 Diabetes.” The article discussed study results confirming that tight blood sugar control early in the course of the disease can reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes by more than half even many years later. This conclusion provides validation of AACE’s existing guidelines and position statements regarding the extreme importance of tight glycemic control.
In 2001, AACE/ACE convened an international consensus conference that discussed methods to achieve tight blood sugar control. According to the 2001 ACE Consensus Statement on Guidelines for Glycemic Control, “Studies have found no glycemic threshold beyond the normal range for reducing microvascular and macrovascular complications. Furthermore, ... establishing glycemic targets that assist and encourage patients and clinicians to achieve normoglycemia will result in improved health, augmented longevity, and enhanced quality of life.” This position statement also clarifies that good control means keeping blood sugar levels below 110 before eating, below 140 two hours after eating and A1C level of less than 6.5%.
AACE/ACE hosted a 2005 follow-up conference to address the implementation of the 2001 glycemic goals, which reaffirmed one of its key recommendations that early and aggressive treatment of diabetes utilizing combination therapy was a key factor in achieving AACE/ACE glycemic targets. Healthcare professionals were urged to adopt an uncompromising treat-to-target approach to achieve and maintain glycemic goals in patients with diabetes.
“It is very gratifying to see clinical data validate the ACE/AACE long held position that early, aggressive ‘tight’ control of blood sugar as close to normal as is safely possible will have very significant benefits for our patients. This study provides additional support for this position by demonstrating that people with well-controlled Type 1 diabetes will benefit in terms of reduced cardiovascular as well as microvascular disease. There is no reason to believe that these results are not applicable to Type 2 diabetes as well,” said Bill Law, Jr., M.D., F.A.C.E., F.A.C.P., AACE President.
AACE is a professional medical organization with more than 5200 members in the United States and 84 other countries. Founded in 1991, AACE is dedicated to the optimal care of patients with endocrine problems. AACE initiatives inform the public about endocrine disorders. AACE also conducts continuing education programs for clinical endocrinologists, physicians whose advanced, specialized training enables them to be experts in the care of endocrine diseases, such as diabetes, thyroid disorders, growth hormone deficiency, osteoporosis, cholesterol disorders, hypertension and obesity.
American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists
CONTACT: Sissy Horn, shorn@aace.com, or Sarah Bradley, sbradley@aace.com,both of American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists, +1-904-353-7878
Web site: http://www.aace.com/