Insulin jabs 'may do more harm than good' for diabetes sufferers over 50: Treatment's benefits can be outweighed by side effects
- Researchers say patients should instead make simple lifestyle changes
- Around 2.9m Brits have Type 2 diabetes, which is triggered by obesity
- Study used a computer model and findings of UK study of 5,100 patients
Researchers from University College London and the University of Michigan say the over-50s would be better off avoiding insulin injections (file picture)
Insulin injections may do more harm than good for some diabetes patients over the age of 50.
Researchers say the benefits of the treatment can be outweighed by the daily disruption and side effects that include weight gain.
Patients with type 2 diabetes should instead make simple lifestyle changes such as exercising and eating healthily.
Around 2.9million Britons have this form of the disease, which is triggered by obesity. Some of these patients have to take insulin up to five times a day.
It works by controlling the blood sugar and thereby preventing complications such as blindness, strokes and even amputations.
But the researchers from University College London and the University of Michigan say the over-50s would be better off avoiding the injections and becoming more healthy.
Their study, which is published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Internal Medicine, used a computer model and the findings of a UK study of 5,100 patients to calculate the benefits and risks of insulin injections.
For the over-50s, the injections lowered the risk of suffering from kidney failure, heart disease, blindness or needing amputations by less than 0.01 per cent. There are no figures for exact numbers of type 2 diabetes patients using insulin but charities say it is in the order of hundreds of thousands.
The jabs are administered between two and five times a day and a third of patients gain weight while others suffer headaches and flu-like symptoms.
Lead author Sandeep Vijan, professor of internal medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School, said: 'For people with type 2 diabetes, the goal of managing blood sugar levels is to prevent associated diabetes complications, such as kidney, eye and heart disease, but it is essential to balance complication risks and treatment burdens when deciding how aggressively to treat blood sugars.
'If you're a patient with fairly low complication risks, but are experiencing symptoms from low blood sugar, gaining weight or find frequent insulin shots to be disruptive to your daily life, then the drugs are doing more harm than good.
'Prescribing medicine isn't just about reducing risks of complications, but also about helping patients improve their quality of life.'
Patients with type 1 diabetes – usually diagnosed in childhood – have to take insulin otherwise their blood sugar would rise to a dangerously high levels.
Their study used a computer model and the findings of a UK study of 5,100 patients to calculate the benefits and risks of insulin injections
And the researchers point out the injections still provide substantial benefits for younger patients with type 2 and for those who cannot control their blood sugar.
Rodney Hayward, professor of medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School, said: 'Drugs that lower blood sugar levels are extremely beneficial in some patients but offer almost no benefit for others.
'These results have major implications for the millions of people who are currently being told they need to increase medication in order to achieve their glucose goal.'
Simon O'Neill, director for health intelligence at the charity Diabetes UK, said: 'Clearly, everyone with type 1 diabetes needs to have insulin to stay alive.
'But for the treatment of type 2 diabetes, sometimes there is a balance to be struck where certain medications might help give someone a longer life but also cause side effects that might negatively impact on quality of life.
'This study highlights the importance of looking at the individual needs of the person with type 2 diabetes, rather than adopting a blanket approach.
'It also underlines how vital it is that healthcare professionals and people with diabetes work closely together to jointly decide what the best treatment options are for that person.
'Weighing up the potential benefits and side effects needs to be at the centre of that discussion.'
Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2675834/Insulin-jabs-harm-good-diabetes-sufferers-50.html#ixzz36F1JwNXj
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