preventing Diabetic complications

Being relatively newly diagnosed [7 months] like a lot of people I am keen to prevent Diabetic complications as being in my forties, I still have quite a while left to live with T2. After reading several books on managing T2 Diabetes I am still unclear as to whether Diabetic complications can be avoided by consistent tight blood sugar control and if so, for how long?
I seem to remember reading somewhere that the only research done on the subject used a target figure of 7.7 for a 2 hour period after eating meals [not sure what the HbA1c was] however, even though the subjects acheived and kept to the target figure most of the subjects still developed some form of diabetic complications regardless of diets and/or medication.The general consensus of opinion seems to be that the figure was too high and should have been in the mid 5's whereby complications can be avoided but if this is so, for how long can complications be avoided if blood sugar levels are kept in the 5's?

Hi anti-carb,
I'm not doing too bad with my after meal readings so far although it's taken me 7 months to get the numbers down from anywhere between 10 - 17 after a meal to typically 5/6. On diagnosis my HbA1c was 8.8, my Doctor prescribed 1500mg of Metformin daily however, I was concerned about the long term effects of Metformin and the possible link to greater dependancy and to that end I reduced the dose to 1 x 500mg daily as I had heard that T2 could be controlled by diet and exercise alone.
I kept taking just 1 x 500mg of Metformin and implemented changes in diet and exercise and made sure I kept to them until my first 3 month HbA1c test which was down to 5.6
Since the last HbA1c result I have stopped taking Metformin completely, my daily readings are still 5/6 2 hours after a meal with the odd 4's after exercise.
My diet isn't too bad, I keep it pretty low carb with no sugar, biscuits, pastry or processed/junk foods, I eat the occasional slice of Polish Brown Rye bread, plenty of roast veg with chicken/fish, homemade Curries and homemade Chicken Soup and various casseroles, Salads with Cheese or Fish but twice a month with Steak or Aberdeen Angus Beefburgers! For snacks I eat Almonds, Hazelnuts, Olives and/or Sun dried tomatoes and a little fruit but mostly Strawberries, Raspberries and Cherries.
I was a little overweight when I was diagnosed with a bit of a tyre around my midriff but I would describe myself as a skinny T2 Diabetic or at least I am now! I was just over 13 stone at diagnosis but I'm now down to 11 largely in part to buying a new bicycle and getting out on it as much as possible; a 30 minute session brings my Blood Sugar down better than anything although if I stopped my daily ride my readings would be higher. I've found the bike the easiest form of exercise to commit to on a regular basis as it's low impact on the knees and you can remain seated while doing it! on a more serious note I'm fitter now than I have been in over 15 years which is directly attributable to getting serious about what I eat and exercising on a daily basis. I didn't want to make any of these lifestyle changes but I was concerned about the long term effects of Diabetes and Diabetes medication so as I saw it I had no choice but to try it.
I also try to eat a 1.5' piece of Raw Bitter melon every day and find it interesting to note it seems to bring my Blood Sugar levels down especially when taken before exercise although I keep the piece no bigger than 1' when this is the case. I don't always remember to eat the Bitter Melon [not so easy given how it tastes however, a large glass of water helps!] so I'm still trying to ascertain it's full effects.
I'm finding it easy to stick to the new diet and I don't plan on giving up my daily bike ride so I'm hoping my next HbA1c is still in the 5's, fingers crossed.