Prevention of Diabetes Mellitus in Patients With Prediabetes

Cardiovascular disease is a leading cause of death in patients with diabetes. Consequently, as antidiabetic medications have demonstrated cardiovascular benefit, cardiologists have been asked to weigh in regarding antidiabetic therapy. The cardiologist's role will continue to grow as antidiabetic agents with cardiovascular benefit are being studied in prediabetes as part of an evolving clinical environment. Still, current guidelines primarily recommend high-intensity lifestyle intervention or metformin for diabetes prevention. Considering that many patients cared for by a cardiologist will have prediabetes, we propose herein that cardiologists can also facilitate diabetes prevention through direct intervention, referring patients to community-based high-intensity lifestyle interventions, and through advocacy, policy, and additional guideline development. The most important messaging for a patient is that avoiding new-onset diabetes can reduce microvascular disease, reduce healthcare cost, and improve health-related quality of life. Moreover, as the mortality risk of patients with a history of myocardial infarction and diabetes is almost double that of patients with a history of myocardial infarction who are free of diabetes, there is even more potential benefit in delaying and/or avoiding diabetes in patients with cardiovascular disease. Despite these important health advantages, the implementation of diabetes prevention strategies is lagging. The under implementation may be exaggerated by published opinions conflicting major guidelines in addition to conflicting guideline recommendations. In conclusion, we propose cardiologists can play a key role in preventing diabetes and aligning practice patterns with guideline recommendations among endocrinology, cardiology, and primary care stake holders.