[Clinical study of the month. After DCCT, the EDIC study]

The "Diabetes Control and Complications Trial" (DCCT) demonstrated that intensive insulin therapy, by reducing HbA1c levels by about 2%, delays the onset and slows the progression of microangiopathic complications (by at least 50%) in patients with type 1 diabetes. The "Epidemiology of Diabetes Interventions and Complications" (EDIC) study recently showed that the reduction in the risk of progressive retinopathy and nephropathy resulting from intensive therapy during the DCCT not only persists, but is amplified for at least 4 years (reduction by about 80% when compared to diabetic patients previously treated with conventional therapy during the DCCT).