Connect
MJA
MJA

Individualising type 2 diabetes management: new treatment options and models of care

N Wah Cheung
Med J Aust 2012; 197 (4) || doi: 10.5694/mja12.11041
Published online: 20 August 2012

Better outcomes require tailored strategies

The past 15 years has seen the advent of many new classes of antidiabetic agents. We now have biguanides, sulfonylureas, thiazolidinediones, dipeptidyl-peptidase IV inhibitors, glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists, a variety of insulins and α-glucosidase inhibitors. This has resulted in a surfeit of choice, but has also increased the complexity of decision making as there is no simple algorithm for escalation of treatment that is optimal for all patients.

The full article is accessible to AMA
members and paid subscribers.
Login to MJA or subscribe now.


  • Department of Diabetes and Endocrinology, Westmead Hospital, Sydney, NSW.


Correspondence: wah.cheung@sydney.edu.au

Competing interests:

I am the President of the Australian Diabetes Society and a member of the Australian Government’s Diabetes Advisory Group for the Diabetes Care Project.

  • 1. Inzucchi SE, Bergenstal RM, Buse JB, et al. Management of hyperglycemia in type 2 diabetes: a patient-centered approach. Diabetes Care 2012; 35: 1364-1379.
  • 2. Cheung NW, Conn JJ, D’Emden MC, et al. Position statement of the Australian Diabetes Society: individualisation of glycated haemoglobin targets for adults with diabetes mellitus. Med J Aust 2009; 191: 339-344. <MJA full text>
  • 3. Gerstein HC, Miller ME, Byington RP, et al. Effects of intensive glucose lowering in type 2 diabetes. N Engl J Med 2008; 358: 2545-2559.
  • 4. Holman RR, Paul SK, Bethel MA, et al. 10-year follow-up of intensive glucose control in type 2 diabetes. N Engl J Med 2008; 359: 1577-1589.
  • 5. NHS Employers. Quality and outcomes framework for 2012/13: guidance for PCOs and practices. London: NHS Employers, 2012.
  • 6. Hayward RA, Krumholz HM, Zulman DM, et al. Optimizing statin treatment for primary prevention of coronary artery disease. Ann Int Med 2010; 152: 69-77.
  • 7. Dalton ARH, Alshamsan R, Majeed A, Millett C. Exclusion of patients from quality measurement of diabetes care in the UK pay-for-performance programme. Diabet Med 2011; 28: 525-531.
  • 8. Diabetes Care Project [website]. https://www.dcp.org.au/public/index.cfm (accessed Jun 2012).
  • 9. O’Connor PJ, Bodkin NL, Fradkin J, et al. Diabetes performance measures: current stats and future directions. Diabetes Care 2011; 34: 1651-1658.
  • 10. Moore DE. How doctors think: clinical judgment and the practice of medicine, by Kathryn Montgomery [book review]. JAMA 2006; 295: 2080-2081.

Author

remove_circle_outline Delete Author
add_circle_outline Add Author

Comment
Do you have any competing interests to declare? *

I/we agree to assign copyright to the Medical Journal of Australia and agree to the Conditions of publication *
I/we agree to the Terms of use of the Medical Journal of Australia *
Email me when people comment on this article

Online responses are no longer available. Please refer to our instructions for authors page for more information.