Intensive diabetes therapy cuts CVD incidence by 30 percent

(HealthDay)—Participants who were taught intensive therapy for type 1 diabetes during the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT) experienced clinically beneficial effects on cardiovascular outcomes at 30 years of follow-up, according to research published online Feb. 9 in Diabetes Care.

The DCCT/Epidemiology of Diabetes Interventions and Complications (EDIC) Study Research Group assessed whether intensive therapy compared with conventional therapy during the DCCT (mean, 6.5 years) had an effect on the incidence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) over 30 years of follow-up.

The researchers found that at 30 years of follow-up in the DCCT and EDIC, 149 CVD events had occurred in 82 former participants from the intensive treatment group versus 217 CVD events in 102 of those from the conventional treatment group. For those in the intensive therapy group, the incidence of any cardiovascular disease was reduced by 30 percent (95 percent confidence interval, 7 to 48 percent; P = 0.016), and the incidence of major cardiovascular events (nonfatal myocardial infarction, stroke, or cardiovascular death) was reduced by 32 percent (95 percent confidence interval, −3 to 56 percent; P = 0.07).

"Intensive diabetes therapy during the DCCT (6.5 years) has long-term beneficial effects on the incidence of cardiovascular disease in type 1 diabetes that persist for up to 30 years," the authors write.

Pharmaceutical and biomedical companies provided free or discounted supplies or equipment to participants in the study.