ICUs Tighten Belts on Blood Glucose Levels
CAP Today, February 2005 Cover Story by William Check, PhD

Tight glycemic control shows growing evidence of improving morbidity and mortality  As George and Ira Gershwin famously wrote, "Love is sweeping the country!" including "All the sexes from Maine to Texas." True, "tight glycemic control in critically ill patients" doesn't have the instant emotional appeal that love evokes, but it too has been sweeping the country, becoming routine in intensive care units from Oregon to Connecticut and many places in between. And whereas love is often blamed in song with making people feel blue and brokenhearted, tight glycemic control actually makes people feel better and live longer, with some of its strongest health benefits seen in patients with cardiac conditions.

Most important, growing evidence indicates that tight glycemic control improves morbidity and mortality not just in diabetics, but in all critically ill patients, setting the stage for comprehensive blood glucose protocols to be adopted in ICUs.