The prevalence of diabetes and its associated complications, such as cardiovascular disease (CVD), has increased over recent years and is expected to continue to rise dramatically. People with diabetes have a poor prognosis, with a substantially increased risk of coronary heart disease, coronary death, non-fatal myocardial infarction, stroke, and other vascular deaths compared with non-diabetic subjects. Conversely, studies have also shown that many patients with CVD have undiagnosed dysglycaemia and that already impaired glucose tolerance and newly detected diabetes are associated with an impaired prognosis. Thus, screening for such conditions, preferably with oral glucose tolerance testing, should be performed in all patients with CVD. Guidelines advocate a multifactorial approach to the management of prediabetes, diabetes and CVD. This includes lifestyle modifications as well as targets for glycaemic control, blood pressure, lipids, and other cardiometabolic risk factors. Although clinical trial data have demonstrated that target-driven strategies can improve outcomes in patients with diabetes, the implementation and execution of these regimens in clinical practice needs to improve.
A multifactorial approach to improving immunity
