Australian diabetes study disputes U.S. findings

Contradicting unexpected findings released last week by American researchers, an Australian team said Wednesday it found no evidence that aggressive treatment of diabetes in patients with heart disease increased their risk of death.

Physicians and patients were shocked by last week's announcement because it seemed to contradict a long-held tenet of diabetes treatment -- that reducing blood glucose levels as much as possible improves patient health.

The new study, with nearly twice as much data as the American one and a longer follow-up time, provides some reassurance that the paradigm has not been overturned. But there are enough differences between the two studies to cloud the source of the discrepancy, experts said.

Doctors had already warned diabetics not to alter their treatment regimens, and the new findings from the George Institute for International Health in Sydney reinforced that warning.

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