Tunisia recently participated in the largest observational study ever conducted on the use of insulin Therapy. Out of the 66,726 participants in the A1chieve® initiative, 585 were from Tunisia. The study published its results in the Journal of Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice, and the findings indicated that diabetic patients can significantly enhance their blood glucose control with insulin analog treatments produced by pharmaceutical manufacturer Novo Nordisk. These positive results were underscored by the fact that type-2 diabetic patients who participated in the study experienced a lower occurrence of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar).
After 24 weeks of treatment there was a significant reduction in HbA1 from 9.5% to 7.4%, and patients reported that their quality of life improved significantly as a result. It is commonly known that every 1% decrease in HbA1c is associated with a significant reduction in long term diabetes complications. Long term complications of diabetes affect the functioning of vital organs, such as the eyes, kidneys and nerves. A marked improvement was also observed in the patients’ vascular risk profile. Cholesterol levels fell from 5,3 to 4.8 mmol/L and systolic blood pressure fell from 134 to 128 mmHg.
Asked about the Tunisian data, Philip Home, professor of diabetes medicine at Newcastle University, England said, “We published the global data and also the results of the North Africa cluster. We expect to release the data from the Tunisian sample in the upcoming weeks.” The data from the North African group included 4,039 patients from Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, and Libya. A large reduction in HbA1 was observed, especially among insulin naive patients, but the target level of 7% was not reached.
These results were presented at the World Diabetes Congress organized earlier this month by the International Diabetes Federation. More than 14,000 participants took part in the event, held in Dubai (United Arab Emirates). The congress represented an opportunity to highlight the need for the Middle East and North Africa to treat diabetes with the highest level of priority. Many Arab countries have some of the highest levels of diabetes in the world.
Additional scientific research, performed by Tunisians, was presented during the event. Dr. Abid, from the Institut National de Nutrition, presented research that confirmed the relationship between the gene E23K and type II diabetes in the Tunisian population. Dr. Mnif, from Hedi Chaker Hospital in Sfax, presented an observational study on the effects of fasting on patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes during the month of Ramadan. Her results showed that the patients had decent Glycemic control. Finally, Dr. Khelifi, from Tunis, showed that the Metabolic Syndrome in obese women was frequent in Tunisia, especially after menopause.
No comments:
Post a Comment