Going to be interested in how the VA responds to Vietnam Veterans who have agent orange induced diabetes and this study. The VA now allows only 50 blood sugar test strips per 90 days.

namdoc23. That's astonishing! Surely there are other entitlements that complement that. I am told to test at least 3 times a day. By the way, I didn't know there was such a thing as agent orange-induced diabetes. I am going to look for more info on that. What a damn shame.

@namdoc23 and realitychequer: It has been several years since Congress added type 2 to the list of Agent Orange induced diseases. It is automatic -- if you served in RVN in any capacity during the combat years and now have type 2, by definition, the type 2 was caused by AO. I am USA-Retired, and have been collecting CRSC since about 2000, as well as being VA rated as 20% disabled. Go to the VA site and search for CRSC -- download the forms and apply.

Thank you both for input. I am under VA care, partially, for my diabetes and others for CAD but the VA has it's head in the sand when it comes to monitoring. That said, it seems this study doesn't place great benefit on rigorous control and there is the current issue of Advadia which just further complicates the issues.

Be careful of the fibrates like Abbott's Tricor. It caused gall stones in my gall bladder and the organ died in April 07. Due to incompetent emergency room health care I nearly died having a gangrenous organ in my body for six months. When I had the final gall bladder attack October 07 I was within hours of death. A second hospital correctly diagnosed me and operated almost immediatly. No matter what I ate my numbers were high as my body was fighting a massive internal infection.

I now take a different cholesterol reduction drug and I waiting for that one to do something else to me.

For those needing to check there blood sugar more often: I recommend using the wal-mart (reli-On) or target (Easy Pro-Plus) branded monitor and test strips. When I was pregnant and checking my sugar around the clock it was a wallet saver! They both sell test strips for around 40 cents each! That is a huge savings over the other brands which run about $1.00 each!