The UKPDS was a unique, long-term trial initially conducted over 20 years and designed to find out more on how to treat people with Type 2
diabetes to prevent
complications whilst maintaining their health.
To do so, 5102 newly diagnosed patients were randomly allocated to different treatment groups over a period of 10 years:
- Conventional policy group with diet alone
- Intensive policy group aiming for near-normal glucose control (with sulphonylurea or insulin treatment)
- Intensive policy group aiming for tight blood pressure control
The overall study was successful and showed that intensive treatment with improved blood pressure and glucose control (by either sulphonylureas or insulin) reduce the risk of micro-vascular complications that cause both morbidity and premature mortality in patients with Type 2 diabetes.
