"Tight control is defined as keeping the fasting [after waking but before eating] blood sugar as close as possible to the levels found in nondiabetic people -- generally in the 80 to 130 range. Loose control allows the blood sugar levels to drift higher, to the 150 to 200 range."
"Several large-scale studies comparing 'tight control' of the blood sugar in diabetics [insulin dependent] with more loose control have shown that retinopathy is increased in the tight-control group."
"Though type 2 patients do have diabetes, their main problems are the complications of this condition. The most serious of these is accelerated atherosclerosis (plugging of the arteries with fat and cholesterol) that leads to heart attacks and poor circulation in the legs."
"The incidence of heart attacks and death from heart disease among diabetics is about twice that of nondiabetics."
"What continues to plague those of us who treat diabetic patients is that the complications of this disease have never been shown to be significantly reduced by improved control of the glucose either with insulin or with the oral drugs."
excerpted from Reversing Diabetes
by Julian M. Whitaker, M.D.