Medication and specific populations

Doctors are faster to initiate pharmacologic type 2 diabetes treatment in people from ethnic minorities than in White people but are then slower to intensify their treatment when needed, show data from the UK.

Older adults with type 2 diabetes often receive diabetes medication adjustments at hospital discharge that may be of little or no benefit, study results suggest.

Factors associated with poor glycemic control in children with type 1 diabetes generally vary according to the insulin regimen used, but family conflict over diabetes management universally impacts all insulin users, US researchers report.

The Ellipse investigators report improved glycemic control at the price of early and mostly mild gastrointestinal events in children and adolescents with type 2 diabetes.

The LEADER investigators report that treatment with the glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist liraglutide may be of particular benefit in the oldest patients with type 2 diabetes.

Insulin manipulation, the practice of deliberately under- or overdosing insulin, is strongly associated with psychiatric comorbidity in children and young adults with type 1 diabetes, Austrian research shows.

A European-wide case–control study finds little evidence for risk to the developing fetus if a mother is taking metformin.

The RISE trial investigators have found that increased insulin resistance and hyperresponsive beta cells may explain the rapid progression of type 2 diabetes in children.

Zhu B et al. Acta Diabetol 2018. doi: 10.1007/s00592-018-1181-4

Oriot P et al. Acta Diabetol 2018. doi: 10.1007/s00592-018-1170-7

Sulfonylurea treatment is durably effective with a low rate of side effects in patients with permanent neonatal diabetes caused by mutations in the KCNJ11 gene, a study in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology shows.

Maskarinec G et al. Eur J Clin Nutr 2018. doi: 10.1038/s41430-018-0188-9

McDonnell ME. Curr Diab Rep 2018; 18: 42. doi: 10.1007/s11892-018-1015-3

The majority of adolescents and young adults with type 2 diabetes are still being treated with metformin and/or insulin, despite a growing number of medications being available for adults, US study data show.

Nichol AD, Holle MJ, An R. Eur J Clin Nutr 2018. doi: 10.1038/s41430-018-0170-6

Owusu Adjah ES et al. Cardiovasc Diabetol 2018; 17: 70. doi: 10.1186/s12933-018-0712-1

A head-to-head trial in women with gestational diabetes has failed to prove that glyburide is statistically noninferior to insulin in terms of perinatal outcomes.

Formoso G et al. Acta Diabetol 2018; 55: 759. doi: 10.1007/s00592-018-1134-y

As the utility and availability of devices surges, so too do patient expectations. Advisory Board member Katharine Barnard provides key consultation questions to help determine your patients’ greatest needs and obstacles.

Dickens LT, Naylor RN. Curr Diab Rep 2018; 18: 12. doi: 10.1007/s11892-018-0982-8