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A new
study is being launched on ways to better manage type 2 diabetes
in an effort to help the nearly half of adult diabetics who
cannot maintain adequate control of their disease and are
at an increased risk of serious complications.
The study,
called GOAL A1C, will include patients who despite a treatment
regimen of diet, exercise and oral medication, have not been
able to control their glucose levels and have an A1C level
greater than 7. The patients will begin receiving insulin
injections for the first time during the course of the study.
GOAL A1C
will look at new approaches available to physicians to assist
their patients in reaching blood glucose levels that can help
reduce long-term complications and healthcare expenses.
More than
14,000 patients with type 2 diabetes are being enrolled in
the GOAL A1C program, in 3,500 primary care physicians' offices.
"Effective
blood glucose management is critical, but difficult to achieve,"
said Dr. Laurence Kennedy, chief of the Division of Endocrinology
at Shands Hospital and lead investigator of the study. "We
currently have many management tools, but need to understand
how to utilize them better in the local, primary care setting,
and GOAL A1C will evaluate specific methods to help patients
attain glucose control."
Source:
Medical Week staff,
week of April 14, 2002
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