Medical Update: Diabetes guidelines updated

The American Diabetes Association has released its annual update to "Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes." The document, published in Diabetes Care, includes all of the group's current clinical practice recommendations related to diabetes treatment and care.

Among the changes since last year's recommendations:

♦ For patients with type 2 diabetes who require an injectable drug, a glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonist is preferred over insulin.

♦ For patients with type 2 diabetes who are not using insulin, routine glucose self-monitoring is of limited additional benefit.

♦ Ten-year atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) risk should be part of a patient's overall risk assessment.

♦ Water intake should be stressed, and consumption of sugar-sweetened and non-nutritive-sweetened beverages should be discouraged.