Diabetes in General Practice
It's quite another to demonstrate the same effect in the messy, multimorbid environment of the real world. Or, in other words, Australian general practice.
So when an editorial1 in a journal with the prestige of the BMJ talks about the impact of SGLT2 inhibitors on kidney outcomes in the real world, my interest is piqued. In such a paper, published in 2020, the editors flagged that:
SGLT2 inhibitors appeared particularly beneficial in people with cardiovascular disease or chronic kidney disease… these drugs were associated with a lower risk of development and progression of diabetic kidney disease in patients without these overt comorbidities.
These patients are the ones who didn’t get a guernsey in the aforementioned clinical trials, but whom we see in practice every day.
This is practice changing research. There is now good evidence that SGLT2 inhibitors improve not only CVD outcomes in patients with diabetes, but also renal outcomes.
Diabetes is one of Australia’s national health priority areas. An estimated 1.2 million Australians (4.9% of the population) had diabetes in 2017-18, with diabetes contributing to about 11% of Australian deaths in 2018. Diabetes is managed at a rate of about 4 per 100 encounters in Australian general practice and represents the 5th most commonly managed problem overall.
In response to this increasing burden of disease, and the continually emerging evidence base on the management of diabetes (as highlighted above), Medcast have developed a new educational program, 'Diabetes in General Practice'. The course has been written by three experienced GPs with a special interest in diabetes, comprising the most interesting, up-to-date and important topics for Australian GPs managing diabetes in 2021. Each webinar will present six topics with clearly defined learning points, including making sense of the bewildering range of new medications as well as the latest evidence on non-pharmacological aspects of management.
Medcast is entirely independent of pharmaceutical or other influences so you can be reassured all the information is balanced and independent. We look forward to seeing you there!
REGISTER HERE for the Diabetes in General Practice Series.
1Smith SM. SGLT2 inhibitors and kidney outcomes in the real world. BMJ 2020;369:m1584 doi: 10.1136/bmj.m1584
A MESSAGE from Dr Justin Coleman...
Simon is a GP based in Newcastle, NSW, and a senior medical educator with Medcast. He also has medical education roles with the RACGP and GPSA.
Over the past three decades, Simon has worked in clinical and educational roles in NSW and the NT, as well as in the Republic of Ireland. He has published over 75 peer reviewed journal articles, and in 2018 received the RACGP Corliss award for his contribution to medical education.
Simon is passionate about high quality education and training. He has particular interests in GP supervisor professional development and the rational use of tests and medicines. He is a proud member of Doctors for the Environment. He spends his spare time drinking craft beer and pretending that he is a musician in the Euthymics, an all-GP band.
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