Diabetes Study Partially Halted Due to Deaths

The Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes (ACCORD) study, a multicenter trial testing whether intensive control of diabetes can reduce cardiovascular risks, has been partially halted due to increased deaths in the intensively treated group.

The trial, which enrolled 10,251 participants, was designed to test the effects of intensive blood glucose control and, in some participants, intensive control of blood lipids and blood pressure. After four years, 257 participants in the intensive treatment group had died, compared with 203 in the standard treatment group. As a result, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), the study’s sponsor, is ending the intensive treatment arm of the trial. Participants will instead be treated according to the less intensive protocol.

Although the study treatment emphasized the use of medications, there was no apparent connection with the recently revealed risks of rosiglitazone (Avandia).

The ending of the active treatment in the ACCORD trial highlights the need for research on lifestyle alterations. PCRM’s recent study, published by the American Diabetes Association in Diabetes Care, showed the effect of a low-fat vegan diet on type 2 diabetes.¹