glucose

This JAMA Insights discusses continuous glucose monitoring use among individuals with type 2 diabetes, including types of devices, evidence of effectiveness, and adverse effects and contraindications.

Author/s:

Richard M Bergenstal, Thomas W Martens, Roy W Beck

Heart Failure With Preserved Ejection Fraction

Rowan Hutchins — Sun, 19 Mar 2023 05:00:00 +0000

Date Added:

March 19, 2023

Journal/Publication:

JAMA

Publisher:

American Medical Association

Publication Date:

March 14, 2023

Issue:

Volume:

329

Pages:

827-838

URL:

Heart Failure With Preserved Ejection Fraction

Type:

Meta-analyses, Reviews, and Guidelines

Format:

Article

DOI (1):

10.1001/jama.2023.2020

Keywords

PMID (1):

36917048

MeSH

furosemide

Sodium Potassium Chloride Symporter Inhibitors

empagliflozin

quality of life

diabetes mellitus

diabetes mellitus, type 2

A review of the possible causes, diagnosis, and management of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction. Notice that SGLT2 inhibitors reduced hospitalizations and cardiovascular deaths by <2% (absolute risk reduction) per year and have not been compared head-to-head against less expensive meds like HCTZ or ramipril. James W. Mold, MD, MPH

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Importance Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), defined as HF with an EF of 50% or higher at diagnosis, affects approximately 3 million people in the US and up to 32 million people worldwide. Patients with HFpEF are hospitalized approximately 1.4 times per year and have an annual mortality rate of approximately 15%.

Observations Risk factors for HFpEF include older age, hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, and obesity. Approximately 65% of patients with HFpEF present with dyspnea and physical examination, chest radiographic, echocardiographic, or invasive hemodynamic evidence of HF with overt congestion (volume overload) at rest. Approximately 35% of patients with HFpEF present with “unexplained” dyspnea on exertion, meaning they do not have clear physical, radiographic, or echocardiographic signs of HF. These patients have elevated atrial pressures with exercise as measured with invasive hemodynamic stress testing or estimated with Doppler echocardiography stress testing. In unselected patients presenting with unexplained dyspnea, the H2FPEF score incorporating clinical (age, hypertension, obesity, atrial fibrillation status) and resting Doppler echocardiographic (estimated pulmonary artery systolic pressure or left atrial pressure) variables can assist with diagnosis (H2FPEF score range, 0-9; score >5 indicates more than 95% probability of HFpEF). Specific causes of the clinical syndrome of HF with normal EF other than HFpEF should be identified and treated, such as valvular, infiltrative, or pericardial disease. First-line pharmacologic therapy consists of sodium-glucose cotransporter type 2 inhibitors, such as dapagliflozin or empagliflozin, which reduced HF hospitalization or cardiovascular death by approximately 20% compared with placebo in randomized clinical trials. Compared with usual care, exercise training and diet-induced weight loss produced clinically meaningful increases in functional capacity and quality of life in randomized clinical trials. Diuretics (typically loop diuretics, such as furosemide or torsemide) should be prescribed to patients with overt congestion to improve symptoms. Education in HF self-care (eg, adherence to medications and dietary restrictions, monitoring of symptoms and vital signs) can help avoid HF decompensation.

Conclusions and Relevance Approximately 3 million people in the US have HFpEF. First-line therapy consists of sodium-glucose cotransporter type 2 inhibitors, exercise, HF self-care, loop diuretics as needed to maintain euvolemia, and weight loss for patients with obesity and HFpEF.

Author/s:

Redfield, Margaret, Borlaug, Barry

Effect of Continuous Glucose Monitoring on Glycemic Control in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes Treated With Basal Insulin: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Saige Blanchard — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 05:00:00 +0000

Date Added:

June 8, 2021

Journal/Publication:

Journal of the American Medical Association

Publisher:

American Medical Association

Publication Date:

June 8, 2021

Issue:

Volume:

325

Pages:

2262-2272

URL:

Effect of Continuous Glucose Monitoring on Glycemic Control in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes Treated With Basal Insulin: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Format:

Article

DOI (1):

10.1001/jama.2021.7444

Keywords

PMID (1):

34077499

MeSH

glycated hemoglobin a

Use of continuous glucose monitoring devices by people with Type 2 diabetes who are being treated with supplementary basal insulin results in significantly better glycemic control. James W. Mold, MD, MPH

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Importance: Continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) has been shown to be beneficial for adults with type 2 diabetes using intensive insulin therapy, but its use in type 2 diabetes treated with basal insulin without prandial insulin has not been well studied.

Objective: To determine the effectiveness of CGM in adults with type 2 diabetes treated with basal insulin without prandial insulin in primary care practices.

Design, setting, and participants: This randomized clinical trial was conducted at 15 centers in the US (enrollment from July 30, 2018, to October 30, 2019; follow-up completed July 7, 2020) and included adults with type 2 diabetes receiving their diabetes care from a primary care clinician and treated with 1 or 2 daily injections of long- or intermediate-acting basal insulin without prandial insulin, with or without noninsulin glucose-lowering medications.

Interventions: Random assignment 2:1 to CGM (n = 116) or traditional blood glucose meter (BGM) monitoring (n = 59).

Main outcomes and measures: The primary outcome was hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) level at 8 months. Key secondary outcomes were CGM-measured time in target glucose range of 70 to 180 mg/dL, time with glucose level at greater than 250 mg/dL, and mean glucose level at 8 months.

Results: Among 175 randomized participants (mean [SD] age, 57 [9] years; 88 women [50%]; 92 racial/ethnic minority individuals [53%]; mean [SD] baseline HbA1c level, 9.1% [0.9%]), 165 (94%) completed the trial. Mean HbA1c level decreased from 9.1% at baseline to 8.0% at 8 months in the CGM group and from 9.0% to 8.4% in the BGM group (adjusted difference, -0.4% [95% CI, -0.8% to -0.1%]; P = .02). In the CGM group, compared with the BGM group, the mean percentage of CGM-measured time in the target glucose range of 70 to 180 mg/dL was 59% vs 43% (adjusted difference, 15% [95% CI, 8% to 23%]; P < .001), the mean percentage of time at greater than 250 mg/dL was 11% vs 27% (adjusted difference, -16% [95% CI, -21% to -11%]; P < .001), and the means of the mean glucose values were 179 mg/dL vs 206 mg/dL (adjusted difference, -26 mg/dL [95% CI, -41 to -12]; P < .001). Severe hypoglycemic events occurred in 1 participant (1%) in the CGM group and in 1 (2%) in the BGM group.

Conclusions and relevance: Among adults with poorly controlled type 2 diabetes treated with basal insulin without prandial insulin, continuous glucose monitoring, as compared with blood glucose meter monitoring, resulted in significantly lower HbA1c levels at 8 months.

Author/s:

Martens, T., Beck, R. W., Bailey, R., Ruedy, K. J., Calhoun, P., Peters, A. L., Pop-Busui, R., Philis-Tsimikas, A., Bao, S., Umpierrez, G., Davis, G., Kruger, D., Bhargava, A., Young, L., McGill, J. B., Aleppo, G., Nguyen, Q. T., Orozco, I., Biggs, W., Lucas, K. J., Polonsky, W. H., Buse, J. B., Price, D., Bergenstal, R. M.

Intensive Glucose Control in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes — 15-Year Follow-up

Brian Desmarais — Mon, 10 Jun 2019 14:27:35 +0000

Date Added:

June 10, 2019

Journal/Publication:

New England Journal of Medicine

Publication Date:

June 6, 2019

Issue:

Volume:

380

Pages:

2215-2224

URL:

Intensive Glucose Control in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes — 15-Year Follow-up

Type:

Clinical Research Results

Format:

Article

DOI (1):

10.1056/NEJMoa1806802.

Keywords

MeSH

glycated hemoglobin a

myocardial infarction

stroke

heart failure

amputation

diabetes mellitus, type 2

Intensive management of glucose levels in patients with Type 2 DM does not extend life. This is not new news, but it is a reminder that the benefit of treatment of Type 2 DM is improved quality of life, primarily fewer symptoms and a reduced risk of future microvascular problems, though those problems are relatively uncommon even without treatment.

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BACKGROUND

We previously reported that a median of 5.6 years of intensive as compared with standard glucose lowering in 1791 military veterans with type 2 diabetes resulted in a risk of major cardiovascular events that was significantly lower (by 17%) after a total of 10 years of combined intervention and observational follow-up. We now report the full 15-year follow-up.

METHODS

We observationally followed enrolled participants (complete cohort) after the conclusion of the original clinical trial by using central databases to identify cardiovascular events, hospitalizations, and deaths. Participants were asked whether they would be willing to provide additional data by means of surveys and chart reviews (survey cohort). The prespecified primary outcome was a composite of major cardiovascular events, including nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, new or worsening congestive heart failure, amputation for ischemic gangrene, and death from cardiovascular causes. Death from any cause was a prespecified secondary outcome.

RESULTS

There were 1655 participants in the complete cohort and 1391 in the survey cohort. During the trial (which originally enrolled 1791 participants), the separation of the glycated hemoglobin curves between the intensive-therapy group (892 participants) and the standard-therapy group (899 participants) averaged 1.5 percentage points, and this difference declined to 0.2 to 0.3 percentage points by 3 years after the trial ended. Over a period of 15 years of follow-up (active treatment plus post-trial observation), the risks of major cardiovascular events or death were not lower in the intensive-therapy group than in the standard-therapy group (hazard ratio for primary outcome, 0.91; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.78 to 1.06; P=0.23; hazard ratio for death, 1.02; 95% CI, 0.88 to 1.18). The risk of major cardiovascular disease outcomes was reduced, however, during an extended interval of separation of the glycated hemoglobin curves (hazard ratio, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.70 to 0.99), but this benefit did not continue after equalization of the glycated hemoglobin levels (hazard ratio, 1.26; 95% CI, 0.90 to 1.75).

CONCLUSIONS

Participants with type 2 diabetes who had been randomly assigned to intensive glucose control for 5.6 years had a lower risk of cardiovascular events than those who received standard therapy only during the prolonged period in which the glycated hemoglobin curves were separated. There was no evidence of a legacy effect or a mortality benefit with intensive glucose control. (Funded by the VA Cooperative Studies Program; VADT ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00032487.)

Author/s:

Emanuele, N.V., Reaven, P.D., Wiitala, W.L., Bahn, G.D., Reda D.J., McCarren, M., Duckworth, W.C., Hayward, R.A., VADT Investigators