Weight and type 2 diabetes: new recommendations

Abstract

Most patients with type 2 diabetes have excess adiposity. There is wide consensus that adequate treatment of type 2 diabetes requires a simultaneous approach to overweight/obesity and the remaining cardiovascular risk factors. Non-pharmacological interventions (diet, exercise) represent the cornerstone of the treatment of patients with type 2 diabetes. Weight loss through lifestyle modification has shown clear benefits in these patients, requiring an individualised and multidisciplinary approach with structured programmes endowed with specific resources. The weight gain associated with some antidiabetic drugs (secretagogues, glitazones, insulin) can hamper glycaemic control, compromising treatment adherence, worsening vascular risk profile, and limiting the benefits of treatment. Therefore, the current tendency is to adopt a weight-centred approach to the treatment of type 2 diabetes, giving priority to those antidiabetic drugs that have a neutral effect on weight or that favour weight loss (metformin, incretin therapies, sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors). Metabolic surgery is an effective alternative for patients with type 2 diabetes and a BMI ≥35 kg/m² and allows remission of diabetes in a large proportion of patients, especially if the disease is not very advanced. A consensus document supported by various Spanish scientific societies has recently been published. This document makes a series of specific recommendations on the diagnostic and therapeutic approach to patients with diabetes and obesity.

Keywords: Agonistas del receptor del GLP1; Body weight; Diabetes tipo 2; GLP-1 receptor agonists; Inhibidores del cotransportador sodio-glucosa; Obesidad; Obesity; Peso corporal; Sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors; Type 2 diabetes; tipo 2.