Antihyperglycemic Algorithms for Type 2 Diabetes: Focus on Nonglycemic Outcomes

Abstract

Type 2 diabetes management continues to increase in complexity as more pharmacologic medication classes become available and high-quality clinical trials are completed. Because many antihyperglycemic agents could be appropriate for a given patient, expert treatment guidance is indispensable. Algorithms can help to guide clinicians toward initiat-ing more evidence-based therapy and critically thinking about patient-centered factors that may influence their medication choices. High-quality cardiovascular, renal, and heart failure outcomes trials completed in the past several years have changed the paradigm of how we think about antihyperglycemic agents. Considerations for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, heart failure, and renal insufficiency now figure prominently in treatment algorithms for type 2 diabetes, and the results of recent outcomes trials have significantly transformed algorithmic guidelines published by diabetes, endocrinology, and cardiology associations.