Diabetes And The DCCTWhat is the DCCT? The DCCT (Diabetes Control and Complications Trial) was the largest diabetes study in history. How long did the trial/study last? The DCCT lasted ten years and ended in the summer of 1993. How many people were followed by the DCCT? The DCCT followed 1,441 Type I diabetics. How old were the participants in the DCCT? 29 research centers enrolled Type I diabetics aged 13 to 39. How much did the DCCT cost? The DCCT cost over $165 million dollars. The money was spent on such things as frequent
consultations with a medical team for the participants and the supplies the participants needed to monitor and treat their diabetes. How many different type of groups were used in the DCCT? There were two groups used in the DCCT: Control and experimental. The
people in the control group received conventional therapy, checking their blood glucose level less frequently and only giving themselves
one or two injections of insulin a day. The experimental group checked their blood glucose level four to eight times per day and took three
or more injections of insulin per day (some in the experimental group used an insulin pump) Does the DCCT apply to Type II diabetics too? Although no Type II diabetics were followed in the study Type II diabetics who
take insulin might want to ask their doctors about the advantages of intensive insulin therapy (taking three or more insulin in jections
per day) Does intensive therapy have any drawbacks? When a person is treated with intensive therapy they are three times more likely to have a
severe insulin reaction (hypoglycemia) that requires assistance from another person to treat. What was the target for the participants in the DCCT? The target was to have the participant's glycosylated hemoglobin level be less
than 6.05 percent. The glycosylated hemoglobin test (also called the A1c test) measures the percentage of sugar attached to your red blood
cells. This test can tell you how often your blood glucose levels were elevated over the past two months. Most of the participants in
the DCCT didn't achieve "non-diabetic" glycosylated hemoglobin levels but they still What have we learned from the DCCT? The patients using intensive insulin therapy (three or more injections per day) showed reductions in the following diabetic complications: A. Retinopathy (diabetic eye disease)
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