[Change of trend in the treatment of type 2 non-insulin-dependent diabetics]

Medical opinion about the significance of non-insulin-dependent diabetes has been recently changed for three reasons: epidemiological evidence about the continuously increasing disease-prevalence, accumulation of new intriguing details on the pathophysiology of the disease, and the growing clinical evidence about the importance of accelerated atheromatosis related to any stage of the disease. The new theoretical approach resulted in some new aspects of therapeutical management as well. There is an emphasis on the early recognition, the very strict metabolic control and the individualized form of the therapy. Well organized regular medical care for the diabetics, recognition and effective treatment of comorbidities (dyslipidemia, high blood pressure), self-involvement of the patients in the management (ie. patient education) are the corner stones of this approach. The authors give a short review about the armamentura of the therapy available nowadays, including rules of indication for different sulfonylurea drugs, combined sulfonylurea-insulin treatment and single insulin regimes as well.