Diabetes education can help improve blood sugar levels, says report

Fri, 14 Oct 2011
A number of new studies published in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine have claimed that diabetics can reduce their blood sugar levels through education about the metabolic condition, as well as through strategies that use cognitive behaviour.

One study, which involved 222 adults with either type 1 or type 2 diabetes that had received regular diabetes education or structural behavioural therapy, found that the patients in the former group had an average haemoglobin A1C (HbA1C) of 9 per cent, while the target A1C is under 7 per cent. The group that received structured behavioural education had their A1C lowered by 0.8 per cent, while the standard education group had their level lowered by 0.4 per cent.

Study author, Katie Weinger, from Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston, commented "For people who are struggling with self-management, help is available from your medical team. There are people trained and able to support and help you. Diabetes is difficult to manage alone."

In another study, 623 people with diabetes from Minnesota and New Mexico showed that a larger number of patients who received education were able to lower their A1C to under 7 per cent than the people who received group education. A third study involved patients receiving either a workbook, an educational video, a set of sessions of coaching by telephone or an information leaflet from the US National Diabetes Education Program, and who experienced a 0.5 per cent reduction in their A1C level.

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