A look at the trend in diabetes-related complications in the U.S. over the past two decades: looking ahead

It has been more than two decades since the publication of the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT) and the Stockholm Diabetes Intervention Study. These two landmark studies demonstrated unequivocally that lowering blood glucose delayed the onset and slowed the progression of microvascular complications in type 1 diabetes (1,2). Five years later, the United Kingdom Prospective Diabetes Study (UKPDS) confirmed that microvascular and macrovascular complications in type 2 diabetes can be reduced by lowering blood glucose levels, lipid levels and blood pressure through intensive therapy (3-6).