Controlling blood sugar at a healthy level is very important for people with type 2 diabetes. It can help prevent vascular diseases.
Although there are many options for lower blood sugar, recent studies find that it could be different to control blood sugar levels in women.
One example is eye problems related to type 2 diabetes. Some studies show that diabetic retinopathy is more common and frequent in men than in women.
Other researchers show that women with type 2 diabetes have higher risk of heart disease than men.
In one recent study published on PLOS One, scientists checked the long-term blood control (1 year after diabetic management) in women and men who have type 2 diabetes.
The researchers assessed the health data from a Korean cohort study ran from 2013 to 2014. A total of 42 clinics’ 2253 patients’ data were included.
The patients’ average HbA1C was higher than 6.5%, or their fasting blood sugar level was higher than 120 mg/dL.
All participants finished a 1-year diabetes treatment. The treatment included taking drugs such as metformin and some drug combination.
The patients visited their clinics regularly during the treatment. The researchers measured their HbA1C and blood glucose.
The results showed that women patients had and older average age while men patients were more likely to be obese, smokers, heavy drinkers, and to complain of weight loss and neuropathy.
In addition, men patients’ HbA1C and fasting blood sugar were higher than women in the beginning of the treatment.
After 1 year, about 39% of women and 41% of men reached their target HbA1C goal. However, women showed lower HbA1C achievement than men.
Why does this happen?
The researchers think one reason is the metabolic features are different in women patients and in men patients. This should be tested in lipid analyses.
Another reason is that achieving the HbA1C target in the treatment was linked to smoking. This may show that men had better results than women due to their effects of quit smoking.
Another possible reason is that women were less likely than men to reach healthy cholesterol targets than men.
So the message from the study is that if you are a woman with type 2 diabetes, pay attention to your metabolic health and cholesterol levels. They could be associated with how well you can lower your blood sugar levels.
If you are a man with type 2 diabetes, quit smoking. This may help you control your blood sugar and manage the disease well.
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