Screening for Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus
Authors: Ebrahim Barkoudah, Larry A. Weinrauch
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2015)

Letters3 November 2015Screening for Type 2 Diabetes MellitusEbrahim Barkoudah, MD, MPH and Larry A. Weinrauch, MDEbrahim Barkoudah, MD, MPHFrom Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, and Mount Auburn Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.Search for more papers by this author and Larry A. Weinrauch, MDFrom Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, and Mount Auburn Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/L15-5153 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail TO THE EDITOR:Selph and colleagues' meta-analysis (1) asks whether screening for type 2 diabetes, impaired fasting glucose, or impaired glucose tolerance among asymptomatic adults improves health care outcomes. Unfortunately, the authors seem to have lost focus in their selection of a title and provide an unbalanced assessment on the troubling consequences of type 2 diabetes and its association with an excess of morbidities and deaths, disability, and a shortened lifespan (2). Pervasive in such unbalanced analyses is the formulaic concept that no true observation exists except for recent randomized, controlled trials.To date, although strong evidence shows that improved ...References1. Selph S, Dana T, Blazina I, Bougatsos C, Patel H, Chou R. Screening for type 2 diabetes mellitus: a systematic review for the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Ann Intern Med. 2015;162:765-76. [PMID: 25867111]. doi:10.7326/M14-2221 LinkGoogle Scholar2. Seshasai SR, Kaptoge S, Thompson A, Di Angelantonio E, Gao P, Sarwar N, et al; Emerging Risk Factors Collaboration. Diabetes mellitus, fasting glucose, and risk of cause-specific death. N Engl J Med. 2011;364:829-41. [PMID: 21366474] doi:10.1056/NEJMoa1008862 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar3. Ray KK, Seshasai SR, Wijesuriya S, Sivakumaran R, Nethercott S, Preiss D, et al. Effect of intensive control of glucose on cardiovascular outcomes and death in patients with diabetes mellitus: a meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. Lancet. 2009;373:1765-72. [PMID: 19465231] doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(09)60697-8 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar4. Intensive blood-glucose control with sulphonylureas or insulin compared with conventional treatment and risk of complications in patients with type 2 diabetes (UKPDS 33). UK Prospective Diabetes Study (UKPDS) Group. Lancet. 1998;352:837-53. [PMID: 9742976] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAuthors: Ebrahim Barkoudah, MD, MPH; Larry A. Weinrauch, MDAffiliations: From Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, and Mount Auburn Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.Disclosures: Disclosures can be viewed at www.acponline.org/authors/icmje/ConflictOfInterestForms.do?msNum=L15-0396. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoScreening for Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Systematic Review for the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Shelley Selph , Tracy Dana , Ian Blazina , Christina Bougatsos , Hetal Patel , and Roger Chou Screening for Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Shelley Selph , Ian Blazina , and Roger Chou Screening for Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Shelley Selph , Ian Blazina , and Roger Chou Metrics Cited byGlucose-activatable insulin delivery with charge-conversional polyelectrolyte multilayers for diabetes careUltrafast glucose-responsive, high loading capacity erythrocyte to self-regulate the release of insulin 3 November 2015Volume 163, Issue 9Page: 726KeywordsDisclosureGlucoseGlucose intoleranceHealth careMorbidityMortalityPopulation statisticsRenal failureType 2 diabetesVision ePublished: 3 November 2015 Issue Published: 3 November 2015 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 2015 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF downloadLoading ...