Paradigm Shift in Management of Hyperglycemia in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes: Glucocentric versus Organ Protection

The first research for managing patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) was the UK Prospective Diabetes Study. Subsequent studies have investigated the effects of intensive glucose control on diabetes-associated morbidities and mortality. Study results were intended to change a paradigm to control glycated hemoglobin and prevent diabetes-associated complications, but limited in microvascular diseases rather than diabetes-associated cardio-renal diseases and deaths. Comprehensive management of risk factors other than hyperglycemia (hypertension, dyslipidemia, chronic kidney disease) was emphasized to prevent atherosclerotic cardiovascular (CV) diseases and end-stage renal disease in T2DM. Since 2008, based clinical trials demonstrating CV safety, sodium-glucose transporter 2 inhibitors or glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists have shown beneficial effects on macrovascular and renal complications in patients with T2DM. A recent new paradigm of diabetes care focuses on cardio-renal outcome-oriented care, namely organ-protection, instead of the typical glucocentric view endorsed by major societies across the world including the Korean Diabetes Association and disseminated into clinical practice even in primary care. Although there are many mechanisms by which those glucose-lowering agents protect CV and renal disease in patients with T2DM to be clarified, it is time to redefine diabetes care and to verify the CV effect of anti-diabetic medications beyond glucose lowering.