XI. STRATEGIES FOR IMPROVING DIABETES CARE D iabetes is a chronic illness that requires continuing medical care and patient self-management education to prevent acute complications and to reduce the risk of long-term complications. Diabetes care is complex and requires that many issues, beyond glycemic control, be addressed. A large body of evidence exists that supports a range of interventions to improve diabetes outcomes. These standards of care are intended to provide clinicians, patients, researchers, payors, and other interested individuals with the components of diabetes care, treatment goals, and tools to evaluate the quality of care. While individual preferences, comorbidities, and other patient factors may require modification of goals, targets that are desirable for most patients with diabetes are provided. These standards are not intended to preclude more extensive evaluation and management of the patient by other specialists as needed. For more detailed information, refer to Bode (Ed.): Medical Management of Type 1 Diabetes (1), Burant (Ed): Medical Management of Type 2 Diabetes (2), and Klingensmith (Ed): Intensive Diabetes Management (3). The recommendations included are diagnostic and therapeutic actions that are known or believed to favorably affect health outcomes of patients with diabetes. A grading system (Table 1), developed by the American Diabetes Association (ADA) and modeled after existing methods, was utilized to clarify and codify the evidence that forms the basis for the recommendations. The level of evidence that supports each recommendation is listed after each recommendation using the letters A, B, C, or E.

Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes

1. Type 1 diabetes (due to b-cell destruction, usually leading to absolute insulin deficiency) 2. Type 2 diabetes (due to a progressive insulin secretory defect on the background of insulin resistance) 3. Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) (diabetes diagnosed in the second or third trimester of pregnancy that is not clearly overt diabetes) 4. Specific types of diabetes due to other causes, e.g., monogenic diabetes syndromes (such as neonatal diabetes and maturity-onset diabetes of the young [MODY]), diseases of the exocrine pancreas (such as cystic fibrosis), and drugor chemical-induced diabetes (such as in the treatment of HIV/AIDS or after organ transplantation)

Classification and diagnosis of diabetes

COVID-19 Dashboard

Hyperglycemia and Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes

Metformin is a widely-used drug that results in clear benefits in relation to glucose metabolism and diabetes-related complications. The mechanisms underlying these benefits are complex and still not fully understood. Physiologically, metformin has been shown to reduce hepatic glucose production, yet not all of its effects can be explained by this mechanism and there is increasing evidence of a key role for the gut. At the molecular level the findings vary depending on the doses of metformin used and duration of treatment, with clear differences between acute and chronic administration. Metformin has been shown to act via both AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK)-dependent and AMPK-independent mechanisms; by inhibition of mitochondrial respiration but also perhaps by inhibition of mitochondrial glycerophosphate dehydrogenase, and a mechanism involving the lysosome. In the last 10 years, we have moved from a simple picture, that metformin improves glycaemia by acting on the liver via AMPK activation, to a much more complex picture reflecting its multiple modes of action. More work is required to truly understand how this drug works in its target population: individuals with type 2 diabetes.

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The mechanisms of action of metformin

Post-partum screening after gestational diabetes.

This communication explores the concept of flexibility, a propos insulin preparations and insulin regimes used in the management of type 2 diabetes. The flexibility of an insulin regime or preparation is defined as their ability to be injected at variable times, with variable injection-meal time gaps, in a dose frequency and quantum determined by shared decision making, with a minimal requirement of glucose monitoring and health professional consultation, with no compromise on safety, efficiency and tolerability. The relative flexibility of various basal, prandial and dual action insulins, as well as intensive regimes, is compared. The biopsychosocial model of health is used to assess the utility of different insulins while encouraging a philosophy of flexible insulin usage.

Flexibility in insulin prescription.

Aims/introduction This study aims to evaluate the prevalence of and factors associated with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in Indian women with prior gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) diagnosed using International Association of Diabetes and Pregnancy Study Groups (IADPSG) criteria. Materials and methods This cross-sectional study (2018-2019) enrolled women with and without prior GDM. Study participants underwent detailed assessments, including relevant medical, obstetric and demographic details; 75-g oral glucose tolerance test with glucose and insulin estimation at 0, 30 and 120 min; and other relevant biochemical and anthropometric measurements. NAFLD status was defined by ultrasonography. Results We evaluated a total of 309 women (201 and 108 with and without prior GDM, respectively) at a mean age of 31.9 ± 5.0 years and median of 16 months (interquartile range 9-38 months) following the index delivery. The prevalence of NAFLD was significantly higher in women with prior GDM (62.7% vs 50.0%, P = 0.038; grade 2 and 3 disease, 13.9% vs 6.5%). On logistic regression analysis (fully adjusted model), the odds of NAFLD were 2.11-fold higher in women with prior GDM (95% confidence interval 1.16-3.85, P = 0.014). Overweight/obesity, metabolic syndrome, prediabetes and homeostasis model of assessment of insulin resistance (a measure of insulin resistance) were positively associated with NAFLD, whereas the Matsuda index (a measure of insulin sensitivity) showed a negative association with NAFLD. Conclusions The prevalence of NAFLD is high in women with prior GDM. Such women also have a high burden of cardiometabolic risk factors. Future studies should evaluate the intermediate and long-term hepatic and cardiovascular risk, and the impact of lifestyle interventions in reducing morbidity in such women.

Prevalence of non‐alcoholic fatty liver disease and factors associated with it in Indian women with a history of gestational diabetes mellitus

Background and aims The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has immensely strained healthcare systems worldwide. Diabetes has emerged as a major comorbidity in a large proportion of patients infected with COVID-19 and is associated with poor health outcomes. We aim to provide a practical guidance on screening of hyperglycemia in persons without known diabetes in low resource settings. Methods We reviewed the available guidelines on this subject and proposed an algorithm based on simple measures of blood glucose (BG) which can be implemented by healthcare workers with lesser expertise in low resource settings. Results We propose that every hospitalized patient with COVID-19 infection undergo a paired capillary BG assessment (pre-meal and 2-h post-meal). Patients with pre-meal BG  Conclusion We highlight strategies for screening of hyperglycemia in persons without known diabetes treated for COVID-19 infection in low resource settings. This guidance may well be applied to other settings in the near future.

Proposed guidelines for screening of hyperglycemia in patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in low resource settings.

The choice of initial insulin is often dictated by subjective criteria: the “severity” of diabetes, the ability of the person with diabetes to self inject, at specific times of the day, and the physician’s personal experience. No objective criteria have been evolved by any expert body so far to help guide clinicians make an appropriate, and accurate, choice of initiating insulin. Neither have large studies been able to shed light on the preferred type of insulin regime for a particular individual. This communication suggests various objective parameters which may be used to inform this decision.

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Yashdeep Gupta

Papers

Post-partum screening after gestational diabetes.

Flexibility in insulin prescription.

Prevalence of non‐alcoholic fatty liver disease and factors associated with it in Indian women with a history of gestational diabetes mellitus

Proposed guidelines for screening of hyperglycemia in patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in low resource settings.

Insulin initiation: bringing objectivity to choice