The Effect of Intensive Education on Glycemic Control in Type 2 Diabetic Patients / 대한내분비학회지

BACKGROUND: To this date, efforts to develop effective methods for the education of diabetic patients have been limited. The important goal of self-management and weight control for diabetic treatment can not be attained without long and intensive period of education. This study was undertaken to assess the effectiveness of an intensive educational program, of behavior and diet control, which was carried out on subjects with type 2 diabetes, on an out-patient basis. We compared the effectiveness of an intensive education programme with that of a conventional education programme for the self-management of type 2 diabetic patients. METHODS: Subjects with type 2 diabetes were randomly selected, and allocated to one of two groups. One group received a conventional education programme of self-management(the CE group), and the second group received an intensive education programmes for three months, after which the effectiveness of the programmes were evaluated. RESULTS: 1) The levels of fasting blood sugar(FBS), postprandial 2 hour blood sugar(PP2h) and HbA1c were significantly lowered in both groups following the intervention(p<0.05). In the IE group, the FBS declined from 12.4nmol/L to 7.7nmol/L, PP2h declined from 20.3nmol/L to 10.9nmol/L, and the HbA1c showed a similar decline from 9.4 to 7.0% after intervention(p<0.05). In the CE group, the FBS declined from 10.9 to 9.4nmol/l, the PP2h decreased from 17.1 to 14.6 nmol/l, and the HbA1c also decreased from 8.5 to 7.3% after intervention(p<0.05). The decrease in the FBS and HbA1c following the educational intervention was more pronounced in the IE group than the CE group (p<0.05). 2) The effectiveness of the education programmes in promoting appropriate dietary behavior in the diabetic subjects was assessed by a scoring system in three parts: a regularity score, a balance score and an attitude score. From a comparative study of the three scores, the patients attitudes were observed to be much improved in both the groups following the intervention compared to before the programmes, but the balance and total scores were significantly higher in the IE group than the CE group(p<0.05). CONCLUSION: We can conclude that the intensive diabetic education programme is more effective than a conventional programme, not only in improving the patients' levels of glucose, HbAlc, and dietary score, but also the diabetic patients self-control abilities, promoting behavioral change, and prompting problem solving capabilities in respect to the everyday problems that they have to face throughout their lives.

Insulin and Glucagon Secretions, and Morphological Change of Pancreatic Islets in OLETF Rats, a Model of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

This study was performed to observe the changes of glucose-related hormones and the morphological change including ultrastructure of the pancreatic islets in the male Otsuka Long-Evans Tokushima Fatty rat. Area under the curve (AUC) of glucose at the 30th (709 +/- 73 mg.h/dL) and at the 40th week (746 +/- 87 mg.h/ dL) of age were significantly higher than that at the 10th week (360 +/- 25 mg.h/ dL). AUC of insulin of the 10th week was 2.4 +/- 0.9 ng.h/mL, increased gradually to 10.8 +/- 8.3 ng.h/mL at the 30th week, and decreased to 1.8 +/- 1.2 ng.h/mL at the 40th week. The size of islet was increased at 20th week of age and the distribution of peripheral alpha cells and central beta cells at the 10th and 20th weeks was changed to a mixed pattern at the 40th week. On electron microscopic examination, beta cells at the 20th week showed many immature secretory granules, increased mitochondria, and hypertrophied Golgi complex and endoplasmic reticulum. At the 40th week, beta cell contained scanty intracellular organelles and secretory granules and apoptosis of acinar cell was observed. In conclusion, as diabetes progressed, increased secretion of insulin was accompanied by increases in size of islets and number of beta-cells in male OLETF rats showing obese type 2 diabetes. However, these compensatory changes could not overcome the requirement of insulin according to the continuous hyperglycemia after development of diabetes.

Plasma Leptin, Insulin Resistance, and Obesity Index of Type 2 Diabetics and Normal Subjects among Koreans / 대한내분비학회지

BACKGROUND: Leptin has been reported to be correlated with the amount of adipose tissue in humans. The plasma leptin concentrations were not different between diabetics and non-diabetics in Mexican-Americans; however, the leptin might stimulate or diminish insulin secretion and induce insulin resistance. Then, it can be postulated that leptin may one of the key factors in the development of insulin resistance. Therefore we were to note any differences in FPL (fasting plasma leptin levels) between diabetics and normal subjects, and to investigate variables such as PBF (percentage body fat), BMI (body mass index), FPI (fasting plasma insulin) to determine their effects on the variation of FPL. We also were to investigate whether FPL influenced the GUR (glucose utilization rate). METHODS: The subjects were 116 type 2 diabetics and 45 normal subjects in Korean. PBF, BMI, WHR (waist hip ratio) were measured. Fasting plasma insulin and leptin levels were measured by radioimmunoassay. Euglycemic and/or hyperglycemic clamp tests were performed in 19 diabetics and 16 normal subjects. RESULTS: 1. There was no difference in FPL between diabetics and normal subjects. 2. A significant difference was found in FPL between female and male subjects. 3. Gender and body composition such as PBF, BMI contributed plasma leptin levels. 4. FPL was associated with GUR (Insulin resiatance) only in male subjects. 5. During 2h clamp tests, the acute increments of insulin or glucose did not change the leptin levels. CONCLUSION: These data suggested that there was no difference in FPL between diabetics and normal subjects, whereas gender, body composition such as PBF, BMI contributed leptin levels.