U.S. Diabetes Study Put On Hold After Deaths

Washington (dbTechno) - A diabetes study taking place in the U.S. has been put on hold by American medical researchers after it was discovered that many deaths were taking place for those who had Type 2 diabetes and were receiving aggressive treatment for their blood sugar levels.

U.S. government researchers had to put a stop to a huge clinical trial on the treatment of diabetes due to an increased death risk.

The study was focused on 10,000 adults with Type 2 diabetes which is its most common form. They also all had a cardiovascular disease or two other contributing variables.

The study was put to an end by the National Institutes of Health a full 18 months early after 257 deaths took place among the patients who were treated with an aggressive method to lower their blood sugar to normal levels. This compared directly to 203 deaths for those who were treated in a standard fashion.

This goes against the common belief by researchers, that pushing blood suguar levels down to normal would help.

Researchers are not sure why those treated aggressively were more prone to a higher death risk.

There was no link between the deaths and the drugs used. One of the drugs was the popular Avandia.