| Poor sugar control in diabetics
affects lungs
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The findings from a new study provide
yet another reason for diabetics to keep close control of their
blood sugar--impaired lung function. In fact, the higher the sugar
level, the worse the lungs seem to function.
Dr. Timothy M. E. Davis, of the University of Western Australia,
in Fremantle, and colleagues examined the link between sugar levels
and lung function in 495 type 2 diabetic patients with no history
of lung disease.
At the start of the trial, the participants underwent lung testing
between 1993 and 1994. A subset of 125 patients were re-examined
about 7 years later.
The researchers report that from the start all of the patients
showed lung function that was slightly lower than expected in the
general population. Moreover, this function continued to deteriorate
a little bit each year in the follow-up group.
Poor sugar control was a strong predictor of worsening lung function,
the researchers note in the medical journal Diabetes Care. In turn,
impaired lung function was tied to an increased risk of death.
The team concludes that the data "support the suggestion that
the lung is a target organ in diabetes," and that intensive
sugar control may reduce mortality "through improved ventilatory
function independent of other beneficial effects."
SOURCE: Diabetes Care, March 2004.
Previous Diabetes
News 
|
