'Clinical inertia' blamed for poor diabetes treatment

Nearly 67 percent of Chinese diabetes sufferers fail to keep their blood glucose level within safe levels, with widespread "clinical inertia" mainly to blame, according to a recent study on diabetes treatment in the country.

The clinical study was reportedly the largest one so far to be conducted in China on the treatment of Type 2 diabetes, which followed more than 5,000 patients from across the country for nearly a year.

The findings were published in the first issue of Science China Life Sciences, a scientific journal sponsored by the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the National Natural Science Foundation of China.

Dual and triple therapy treatments based on a combination of metformin and sitagliptin are effective and safe for patients, according to the study.

However, in reality, "clinical inertia" has undermined the practice of combination drug treatments, said professor Weng Jianping, director of the Research Center for Diabetes Care at the Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University in the southern province of Guangdong. He also led the study, involving 237 clinical research centers nationwide.

Many Chinese physicians do not prescribe combination therapies in a timely manner, resulting in patients suffering excessively high blood glucose levels over a long period, Weng said.

"They're reluctant to prescribe combination therapy largely due to a lack of clinical evidence and treatment consensus," he said.

Mu Yiming, a senior diabetes specialist who also participated in the study, said that the study could help bridge the knowledge gap and provide clinical evidence for combination treatment of diabetes.

In addition, "we're working closely to integrate the findings into the latest version of the national treatment guideline, which is due out early next year," he added.

Statistics from the National Health and Family Planning Commission showed that China has the highest number of diabetes sufferers in the world.

There are about 113 million adult patients with Type 2 diabetes in China, accounting for roughly 25 percent of the global total.

Poor control of blood glucose levels over a long time leads to health problems such as heart disease, or damage to eyes, kidneys or nerves, experts said.