In the newly diagnosed diabetic patient, clinical studies have shown that as many as 60 percent of our patients already have significant cardiovascular disease. This means the vascular disease has progressed significantly before we even have a chance to treat the patient. We are essentially behind the eight ball before we even get started. Physicians must go back and rethink this whole problem if we are going to have any hope of changing this tremendous health risk. Most diabetic patients have had their diabetes for 8 to 10 years before they were actually diagnosed.
Prevention of diabetes needs to be our main focus.
Clinical trials have demonstrated patients with preclinical diabetes or impaired glucose tolerance have significantly lower levels of antioxidants. There was evidence of significantly increased levels of oxidative stress, which led to a depletion of our antioxidant defense system. In other trials, this oxidative stress was more significant in those who had secondary complications of their diabetes like retinopathy or cardiovascular disease. These authors felt that antioxidant supplementation should be added to the traditional insulin treatment as a means to help arrest these complications. The neurology department at Mayo Clinic reported a study where they experimentally created diabetic peripheral neuropathy.