Intensive therapy with insulin or oral hypoglycemic agents: Marketed

Results from the United Kingdom Prospective Diabetes Study (UKPDS) were published in The Lancet and the British Medical Journal. The study was a 20-year randomized prospective study of the effects of conventional versus intensive therapy in patients with newly diagnosed Type II diabetes. Overall, the study concluded that intensive therapy with insulin and oral hypoglycemic agents to reduce fasting plasma glucose (FPG) levels to <6 mmol/L had a beneficial effect on diabetes-related events, but not diabetes-related mortality or all-cause mortality.

Among 3,867 patients in the trial, hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) levels over 10 years were 7 percent with intensive therapy versus 7.9 percent with conventional therapy, an 11 percent difference. There was no difference in HbA1c among agents in the intensive group. Patients on intensive therapy had a significantly higher rate of hypoglycemic episodes (p<0.0001) and weight gain (p<0.001). ...