Diabetes arena gets boost. (study on the care and treatment of diabetes)(includes related article on MediSense Inc.'s diabetes brochure)

NEW YORK--This has been a watershed year for the diabetes care category, with the dramatic conclusion of a decade-long study pointing patients toward rigorous screening and frequent treatment.

For drug chains the study's widely reported findings promise burgeoning sales for an already thriving category. Retailers in fact may be surprised to learn that the highest dollar volume product among all health and beauty aids in drug stores for the year ended June 30 was LifeScan Inc.'s One Touch test strips. And that phenomenon, as tracked by Towne-Oller & Associates, was unaffected by the June release of the study, known as the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT).

The study may have begun to impact sales of blood sugar meters and strips for the 12 months ended September 30. Towne-Oller reports drug store volume in those segments was $261.7 million, up a whopping 19% from the $220.3 million recorded in the year ended September 30, 1992.

 Blood Glucose Product Dollar Volume(*) …