News from UKPDS

Risk factors present in type 2 diabetic patients at the time of their inclu sion in the study were related with the occurrence of some complications. T hus, relative risk for coronary heart disease is 1.57 when HbA1c is > 7.5 % , 1.41 when LDL-Cholesterol is > 3.89 mmol/l, these factors are not involve d in the occurrence of cerebral stroke. Blood pressure and HbA1c were monit ored throughout the study and could have been significantly correlated with the occurrence of micro-and macroangiopathy, with a linear-type and even e xponential (HbA1c/retinopathy) relationship and a synergistic interaction b etween these 2 parameters. A treatment allowing a 0.9 % decrease of HbA1c and a 10 mmHg decrease of sy stolic blood pressure is associated with a reduction of complications, more or less important than that expected from the epidemiological analysis of data. Several therapeutic strategies ensue from these observations.