Glycosylated Hemoglobin and Diabetic Control

Considerable controversy has marked the relation of blood glucose control to the long-term development of diabetic complications.1 A consensus on a convincing long-term beneficial relation is still lacking, a situation due primarily to inability to achieve optimal control of the hyperglycemia with current therapeutic regimens, and secondly to inability to assess accurately the degree of hyperglycemia on a long-term basis. Knowles,2 in his review of 85 studies evaluating the relation of diabetic control to complications, concluded, "The most doubtful measurement of all is that of control. Herein, all studies falter, for it is impossible to determine with certainty the chemical . . .