Initial Treatment for Asian Patients Newly Diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes

There is an increasing prevalence of type 2 diabetes in Asian countries but Asians are historically underrepresented in clinical trials of glucose-lowering drugs. This study on “Oral glucose lowering with linagliptin and metformin compared with linagliptin alone as initial treatment in Asian patients with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes and marked hyperglycemia: subgroup analysis of a randomized clinical trial” is a post-hoc subgroup analysis of a multinational, parallel-group clinical trial in which 316 newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus patients were randomized to double-blind oral treatment with linagliptin/metformin or linagliptin monotherapy. Results show that initial oral combination therapy may be a viable treatment for such individuals (J Diabetes Investig. 2017 Sep 16. doi: 10.1111/jdi.12746. [Epub ahead of print]).
 
These findings could aid treatment decisions for Asian patients newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes; and early glycaemic control has been shown to improve long-term clinical outcomes, with significantly reduced risk of microvascular complications and lower risk of myocardial infarction and death.
 
Anyone interested in future collaboration in this field of research is welcome to contact our key investigator Prof Ronald Ma of our Department of Medicine and Therapeutics. Prof Ma is an expert in diabetes and endocrinology, and his research focuses on the epidemiology of diabetes and diabetes-related complications.
 
View the full article: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jdi.12746/abstract