Nutrition is still the foundation of type 2 diabetes treatment

Abstract

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) has a devastating effect on societies due to its high prevalence, multiple organic complications, and high morbidity and mortality burden. In Colombia, recent population-based surveys have estimated the adult urban prevalence of diabetes at a figure between 10% and 11%, which represents between 3.5 and 3.9 million affected individuals. Diabetes complications are serious, lethal, and disabling and carry an enormous burden of costs for the health system. More importantly, they are almost entirely preventable through integral metabolic control. Data from the Colombian health system demonstrate that sustained attainment of a triple goal -encompassing systolic blood pressure <130 mmHg, HbA1c <7.0%, and LDL cholesterol <100 mg/dL- results in a substantial reduction of total mortality, reaching up to 81% over 4 years. However, only one in four patients with diabetes in the Colombian system reaches and sustains such a basic triple goal.