Diabetic heart attack survivors also are 3 to 4 times more likely to experience permanent disability than people without diabetes. Thus, aggressive CAD prevention strategies are necessary for everyone with type 2 diabetes. Today, however, proper drug selection and close monitoring can mitigate this problem. Lifestyle measures can often help people achieve these goals. If lifestyle measures are insufficient, medication is necessary.
Combination therapy is often necessary to lower blood pressure to meet the goal.
Taking two drugs instead of one may minimize side effects because lower dosages of each can be used. Although no drugs produce appreciable increases in HDL cholesterol, statin medications can lower high LDL cholesterol. Again, combination therapy is often more effective. In any case, controlling blood glucose is necessary to maintain health. In 1998, the United Kingdom Prospective Diabetes Study put these fears to rest.