Wang CY, Neil DL, Home P. Diabetes Res Clin Prac 2018; 143: 101–112. doi: 10.1016/j.diabres.2018.06.007

During 18 months of follow-up, the risk was reduced by 71% among patients receiving the intervention, Neil Reeves (Manchester Metropolitan University, UK) told delegates at the 54th EASD Annual Meeting in Berlin, Germany .

However, study co-author Neil Poulter (Imperial College London, UK) pointed out in his presentation at the EASD meeting that “there may be confounding by frailty” for the observed associations in the DEVOTE study, in which approximately 10% of the participants were aged 75 years or older.

As expected, G Neil Thomas (University of Birmingham, UK) and study co-authors found that cardiovascular risk increased even more for overweight and obese people with one or two metabolic abnormalities.

“The question that remains is to what extent the psychological factors, such as self-perceived unsteadiness and fear of falling, actually drive changes in gait characteristics, or whether the experienced problems with gait and balance largely determine the patient’s subjective appraisal of feeling unsteady,” say Neil Reeves (Manchester Metropolitan University, UK) and co-researchers.

In one of three commentary articles accompanying the study, Tien Yin Wong (Singapore National Eye Centre) and Neil Bressler (Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA) say that these performance indicators are “substantially better” than what is generally advised for screening.

The opening day of the 2017 American Diabetes Association 77th Scientific Sessions featured symposia on a broad range of topics including the stigma of diabetes, management of diabetic neuropathy, biomarkers of type 1 diabetes, and the role of the intestinal immune system in metabolic disease.

Results of the placebo-controlled GetGoal-O trial suggest that adding lixisenatide to existing diabetes treatment improves glycemic control among nonfrail older patients with uncontrolled type 2 diabetes.