Diabetes: The ACCORD study conclusion that using tight control & striving for a low HbA1c

This article contradicts the earlier "headlines" about the ACCORD study conclusion that using tight control & striving for a low HbA1c resulted in an excessive number of deaths. What was never widely publicized by our wonderful media was that to obtain
tight control in the ACCORD study, the subjects were using as many as 5 (yes five!) different medications including insulin to control their bg's. That part didn't make good headlines like dead subjects, I guess! The strong implication even stated flat-out in some reporting in the original published reports was that it was the low HbA1c that was the mortality cause.

Unfortunately some in the greater medical community treating diabetes took this message as their cue to not want their patients to strive for tight control to minimize their complication risk. Perhaps they didn't read beyond the headline conclusions either! I personally suspected that the excess death rate in the tight control group was more likely caused by the effects of all those meds and the resulting inability to safely have stable & low bg's as a result, but that's just conjecture on my part.

Bottom line conclusion here is that low HbA1c's are not a death risk, but in fact higher HbA1c's do represent and increased complication & resultant death risk, which is something that was shown from the results of DCCT & UKPDS studies many years ago. Higher HbA1c, higher complication risk. Lower HbA1c, lower complication risk. Complications, of course include "death" as the ultimate complication! Anyway here's the follow up info that I think presents a more logical scenario. MHO, of course!