The National Institutes of Health ended the U.S. study early because people with Type 2 diabetes who were on a drug-and-insulin regime to control blood sugar levels actually had a higher death rate, The New York Times reported.

The two studies, which involved a total of 21,000 subjects, are not comparable because they used different regimens to reduce blood sugar.

The Australian researchers, who were partly funded by Servier, the manufacturer of a diabetes drug, recruited subjects from 20 countries.

Doctors had believed that controlling blood sugar would be helpful to diabetics, who are at high risk of heart attacks. They now suggest that moderate control is helpful in avoiding a variety of complications but aggressive control is unnecessary.

The studies were reported Friday at the annual meeting of the American Diabetes Association.