Approach Considerations
The goals in caring for patients with diabetes mellitus are to eliminate symptoms and to prevent, or at least slow, the development of complications. Microvascular (ie, eye and kidney disease) risk reduction is accomplished through control of glycemia and blood pressure; macrovascular (ie, coronary, cerebrovascular, peripheral vascular) risk reduction, through control of lipids and hypertension, smoking cessation, and aspirin therapy; and metabolic and neurologic risk reduction, through control of glycemia.
Essential Update: New Abridged Recommendations for Primary Care Providers
The American Diabetes Association has released condensed recommendations for Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes: Abridged for Primary Care Providers, highlighting recommendations most relevant to primary care. The abridged version focusses particularly on the following aspects:
Prediabetes
Self-management education
Nutrition
Physical activity
Smoking cessation
Psychosocial care
Immunizations
Glycemic treatment
Therapeutic targets
Diagnosis and treatment of vascular complications
Intensification of insulin therapy in type 2 diabetes
The recommendations can be accessed at American Diabetes Association DiabetesPro Professional Resources Online, Clinical Practice Recommendations – 2015.[1]
Type 2 diabetes care is best provided by a multidisciplinary team of health professionals with expertise in diabetes, working in collaboration with the patient and family.[3] Management includes the following:
Appropriate goal setting
Dietary and exercise modifications
Medications
Appropriate self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG)
Regular monitoring for complications
Laboratory assessment
Ideally, blood glucose should be maintained at near-normal levels (preprandial levels of 90-130 mg/dL and hemoglobin A1C [HbA1c] levels < 7%). However, focus on glucose alone does not provide adequate treatment for patients with diabetes mellitus. Treatment involves multiple goals (ie, glycemia, lipids, blood pressure).
Aggressive glucose lowering may not be the best strategy in all patients. Individual risk stratification is highly recommended. In patients with advanced type 2 diabetes who are at high risk for cardiovascular disease, lowering HbA1c to 6% or lower may increase the risk of cardiovascular events.[114]
A study from the ACCORD Study Group found that setting the treatment target for HbA1c below 6% in high-risk patients resulted in reduced 5-year nonfatal myocardial infarctions. However, patients who did not achieve the treatment target experienced increased 5-year mortality.[115]
Review of blood glucose logs must be part of any diabetes management plan. Both iron and erythropoietin treatments commonly prescribed in patients with chronic kidney disease cause a significant increase in HbA1c without affecting blood glucose levels.[116]
With each health-care system encounter, patients with diabetes should be educated about and encouraged to follow an appropriate treatment plan. Adherence to diet and exercise should continue to be stressed throughout treatment, because these lifestyle measures can have a large effect on the degree of diabetic control that patients can achieve.
A study by Morrison et al found that more frequent visits with a primary care provider (every 2 wk) led to markedly rapid reductions in serum glucose, HbA1c, and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels. However, how such a strategy can work globally remains a challenge due to available resources and economic restrictions.[117]
The United Kingdom Prospective Diabetes Study
The care of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus has been profoundly shaped by the results of the United Kingdom Prospective Diabetes Study (UKPDS). This landmark study confirmed the importance of glycemic control in reducing the risk for microvascular complications and refuted previous data suggesting that treatment with sulfonylureas or insulin increased the risk of macrovascular disease. Major findings of the UKPDS are displayed in the images below.
Major findings from the primary glucose study in t
Major findings from the primary glucose study in the United Kingdom Prospective Diabetes Study (UKPDS).
Results from metformin substudy in the United King
Results from metformin substudy in the United Kingdom Prospective Diabetes Study (UKPDS).
Findings from the blood pressure substudy in the U
Findings from the blood pressure substudy in the United Kingdom Prospective Diabetes Study (UKPDS).
Significant implications of the UKPDS findings include the following:
Microvascular complications (predominantly indicated by the need for laser photocoagulation of retinal lesions) are reduced by 25% when mean HbA1c is 7%, compared with 7.9%
A continuous relationship exists between glycemia and microvascular complications, with a 35% reduction in risk for each 1% decrement in HbA1c; a glycemic threshold (above the upper limit of normal for HbA1c) below which risk for microvascular disease is eliminated does not appear to exist
Glycemic control has minimal effect on macrovascular disease risk; excess macrovascular risk appears to be related to conventional risk factors such as dyslipidemia and hypertension
Sulfonylureas and insulin therapy do not increase macrovascular disease risk [63]
Metformin reduces macrovascular risk in patients who are obese [118]
Vigorous blood pressure control reduces microvascular and macrovascular events; beta blockers and angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors appear to be equally effective in this regard
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