Added Discussion of The Toxic Effect of ACCORD Study Misinterpretations to the Blood Sugar Targets Page

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But My Doctor Says Lowering Blood Sugars is Dangerous

If you are told that lowering your blood sugars is dangerous or can cause a heart attack, the chances are that your doctor read about a study called ACCORD in a newsletter. This was a study that followed a large group of people who attempted to reach an A1c of 6.5. It was reported as concluding that those who achieved the lower A1c had a slightly higher risk of heart attack.

Subsequent analysis of the ACCORD data found two things:

• Those who had heart attacks were those in the group attempting to lower A1c who did not achieve the lower blood sugars, and
• The excess heart attacks occurred in those who took Avandia, a drug now known to raise heart attack risk.

Unfortunately, though the original finding received a great deal of press, the subsequent analyses explaining the result did not.

The only other study that found a problem with lowering A1c was in a group of elderly veterans who were also using the sulfonylurea drugs glipizide and glimepiride, two drugs that, like Avandia and Actos, have also been found to damage the heart over time.

There is not a single piece of research, anywhere, that suggests it's harmful to lower blood sugar by cutting down on carbohydrates. In addition, there's a lot of research suggesting that lowering blood sugars without the use of the drugs known to be harmful to the heart prevents or reverses neuropathy, retinal damage, and heart disease.

For further insight into ACCORD and links to the actual research visit:

Diabetes Update: ACCORD Redux, It's the High Blood Sugars Stupid

Diabetes Update: Avandia is sufficient to explain the excess deaths in ACCORD

You can learn more about this issue by typing "ACCORD" into the Google Search box at the upper left corner of this page.