Guideline Approach to Therapy in Patients With Newly Diagnosed Type 2 Diabetes

Diabetes Care: August 2013

Both the prevalence and incidence of type 2 diabetes are increasing worldwide in conjunction with increased Westernization of the population’s lifestyle. Type 2 diabetes is still a leading cause of cardiovascular disease (CVD), amputation, renal failure, and blindness. The risk for microvascular complications is related to overall glycemic burden over time as measured by A1C (1,2). The UK Prospective Diabetes Study (UKPDS) 10-year follow-up demonstrated a possible effect on CVD as well (3).

A meta-analysis of cardiovascular outcome in patients with long disease duration including Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes (ACCORD), Action in Diabetes and Vascular Disease: Preterax and Diamicron MR Controlled Evaluation (ADVANCE), and Veterans Affairs Diabetes Trial (VADT) suggested that in these populations the reduction of ~1% in A1C is associated with a 15% relative reduction in nonfatal myocardial infarction (4). Read More