BACKGROUND: Diabetic patients are often accompanied with the changes in lipid metabolism and hemorheology, which are the main factors to cause cardiopathy.OBJECTIVE: To observe the influence of the prescription for lowering glucose and lipid on the lipid metabolism and hemorheology in diabetic patients with accompanied hyperlipidemia.DESIGN: A randomized control observation.SETTING: Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University; the Staff Room of Epidemic Febrile Disease, Nanjing Medical University.PARTICIPANTS: Totally 103 diabetic patients with abnormality of lipid metabolism, who were selected from the Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University and the Hall of Traditional Chinese Medicine of Nanjing Medical University between May 1998 and June 2000, were randomly divided into the group treated with the prescription for lowering glucose (n=52) and xuezhikang control group (n=51).METHODS: In the treatment group, the patients were treated with the prescription for lowering glucose and lipid, which consisted of hawthorn fruit 10 g, safflower 10 g, peach seed 12 g, danpi 10 g, leech 3 g, danshen 15 g,American ginseng 2 g, fleece-flower root 15 g, king solomonseal rhizome 12 g, wolfberry fruit 12 g, astragalus root 20 g, one dose every day, and no other drugs for lowering lipids were used. In the control group, the patients were treated with xuezhikang,, 2 tablets for each time (03 g per tablet), 3 times a day. The blood samples of all the patients in both groups were drawn and examined before medication and 40 days after medication, the indexes of blood lipids and hemorheology were detected respectively, and the results before and after treatment were compared.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The influence of the prescription for lowering glucose and lipid on the cholesterol, triglyceride, low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), very low density lipoprotein cholesterol (VLDL-C), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and hemorheology of the patients were observed.RESULTS: A total of 103 patients were involved, all completed the analysis of blood lipid, and 75 cases completed the analysis of hemorheology,blood lipids: In the treatment group, the triglyceride, cholesterol, LDL-C and VLDL-C after treatment were all decreased as compaied with those before treatment, and HDL-C was higher than that before treatment. In the control group, only triglyceride, cholesterol, LDL-C after treatment were the whole blood high, middle and low-shear viscosities, haematocrit and platelet aggregation rate after treatment were decreased as compared with those before treatment. In the control group, only the platelet aggregation rate after treatment was decreased as compared with thate before treatment.CONCLUSION: The prescription for lowering glucose and lipid can ameliorate the indexes of lipid metabolism and hemorheology in diabetic patients with hyperlipidemia.