Research

Hormonal

Intensive glycemic therapy (targeting near-normal glucose levels) significantly reduces the development and progression of microvascular complications (retinopathy, nephropathy, neuropathy) and cardiovascular disease in patients with type 1 diabetes compared to conventional therapy.

For people with Type 1 Diabetes, aiming for near-normal blood sugar levels through intensive insulin therapy (multiple daily injections or a pump) significantly reduces the risk of eye, kidney, nerve, and heart complications over the long term. While this approach increases the risk of low blood sugar events, it does not harm cognitive function or quality of life. The key is individualizing the regimen to fit your lifestyle while striving for lower HbA1c targets.

StrongSupportsVERY_HIGH confidence
The DCCT/EDIC convincingly demonstrated that the glucose hypothesis was correct and that an intervention that aimed to achieve glycemia as close to the nondiabetic range as safely possible reduced all of the microvascular and cardiovascular complications of diabetes.
David M. Nathan · Diabetes Care · 2013

Why this rating

The DCCT/EDIC is a landmark, long-term (30 years), randomized controlled trial with high follow-up rates and objective outcome measures.

Source

The Diabetes Control and Complications Trial/Epidemiology of Diabetes Interventions and Complications Study at 30 Years: Overview

David M. Nathan · Diabetes Care · 2013

DOI 10.2337/dc13-2112

rct · n=1441Cited 1,810×
Read the paper
DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

This is one finding among thousands. Every one is graded and traced to its source, so you can see what the evidence actually supports. Browse the research →