A study has found that the number of people who meet the recommended goals in the three key markers of diabetes control has increased substantially.

The measures are A1C – which assesses blood sugar (glucose) over the previous three months – blood pressure and cholesterol. They are often called the ABCs of diabetes. When these measures fall outside healthy ranges, people are more likely to be burdened by complications of diabetes, including heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, blindness, and amputation.
Despite improvement, the results show continued need for better diabetes control. In particular, young people and some minority groups were below average in meeting the goals.
To gauge diabetes management, researchers analyzed data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys from 1988-1994 and 1999-2010.
"The most impressive finding was the significant improvement in diabetes management over time across all groups," said Catherine Cowie, Ph.D., the study's senior author and director of the Diabetes Epidemiology Program at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), which conducted and funded the study. "However, we see a lot of room for improvement, for everyone, but particularly for younger people and some minority groups."
According to 2007-2010 data on Americans with diabetes:
- 53 percent met A1C goals, compared to 43 percent in 1988-1994 data
- 51 percent met blood pressure goals, compared to 33 percent in 1988-1994 data
- 56 percent met cholesterol goals, compared to 10 percent in 1988-1994 data
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"It is particularly disturbing that good control was seen less frequently in young people," said Judith Fradkin, M.D., director of the NIDDK Division of Diabetes, Endocrinology, and Metabolic Diseases. "Research has shown that good diabetes control early in the course of disease has long-lasting benefits reducing the risk of complications. For people with long life expectancy after diagnosis of diabetes, it's especially important to focus on meeting diabetes management goals as early as possible, because with that longer life comes a greater chance of developing complications if they do not control their diabetes."
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Goals for A1C, blood pressure, and cholesterol must be individualized for people with diabetes, as effects of diabetes can differ depending on a person's age, type of diabetes, diabetes medications, complications from diabetes, and other factors.
For A1C, a goal for many people is below 7 percent. It is particularly important for people with long life expectancies to control A1C to protect against eye, nerve, and kidney disease in the future. Goals can be less stringent for people with limited life expectancy, since complications develop over time. For blood pressure, the goal for most people is 130/80. Moderate- or high-dose statin therapy is recommended for people over 40 with diabetes, with a goal of keeping the low-density lipoprotein (LDL) – sometimes called bad cholesterol – less than 100 milligrams per deciliter. Control of blood pressure and cholesterol are particularly important for lowering cardiovascular risk.
About 26 million Americans have diabetes, and another 79 million have prediabetes, a condition that places them at increased risk for developing type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Between 1988 and 2012, the prevalence of diagnosed diabetes has more than doubled, from nearly 4 percent of the U.S. population to nearly 9 percent, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
To help people improve their health, the National Diabetes Education Program (NDEP), an initiative of the NIH and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is working to assist people in making positive, lasting changes to improve their health. NDEP's Make A Plan tool can help make these changes become part of a daily routine to support people in reaching their health goals. The NIDDK's National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse creates and promotes research-based health information and campaigns for the public. Among many publications, the A1C Test and Diabetes explains how this important test can help with diagnosis and management of diabetes.
Source-Eurekalert