Shocking statistics were revealed at Boehringer Ingelheim's ‘Directions in Diabetes - Exploring Options for Patient Care' conference during Arab Health Congress in Dubai on January 27. Boehringer Ingelheim, a leading pharmaceutical company, organized the informative session with endocrinologists to highlight threats diabetes poses to the MENA population. Speakers including Dr. Saud Al Sifri, Dr. Abdulrazzaq Al Madani and Karim El Alaoui recommended several ways to deal with diabetes at an early stage. The panel recommended safe and effective treatments as well as early conversations with patients to manage Type 2 Diabetes. They spoke about adopting safe and effective treatment programs for patients while helping them understand their disease. The conference also gave insight into Type 2 Diabetes in the MENA region, the DPP-4 inhibitors and introduced the SGLT2 inhibitor class of diabetes therapy. The forum revealed shocking statistics and presented physician results from the global IntroDia™ survey. The alarming rate of diabetes is putting people at an increasing risk of developing various complications. As a result, doctors and scientific studies have been increasingly stressing the importance of adopting an effective treatment approach, to start early, initiate dialogue and take medication that has minimal effect on vital organs like the kidney and heart. Type 2 Diabetes (T2D) is the most common form of diabetes that can lead to chronic complications like cardiovascular, kidney and liver diseases. T2D can also cause nerve damage. Currently: • There are some 36.8 million diabetics in the MENA region, with 23.9% of them living in Saudi Arabia, 23.1% in Kuwait, 21.9% in Bahrain, 19.8% in Qatar, 19% in UAE, 16.6% in Egypt, 14.9% in Lebanon and 7.3% in Algeria.1 The number of people is expected to rise to 68 million by 2035. • First insights from the global IntroDia™ study, which surveyed more than 6,700 physicians and 10,000 people with Type 2 Diabetes (T2D), including Saudi Arabia and UAE, revealed that physicians see treatment success to be equally dependent on the way people with T2D accept their condition and the efficacy of the medication. • The DPP-4 inhibitor introduced by Boehringer Ingelheim has the unique feature of non-renal excretion and requires neither dosage monitoring nor adjustment when treating both hepatic and renal impaired T2D patients.3 It also delivers significant reduction in blood glucose level. “The rising incidence of Type 2 Diabetes in the region is becoming a matter of critical concern as it not only impacts the significant increase of ensuing complications like kidney or cardiovascular disease, but also impacts society with rising expenditure on treatments. People have accepted it as a lifestyle disease without knowledge of the ensuing life-threatening complications which need to be controlled. One of our priorities is to help patients understand their disease and take precautions,” said Dr. Saud Al Sifri, Chairman of Endocrinology and Diabetes Department at Al Hada Armed Forces Hospitals, Saudi Arabia. The panel shared insights into the efficacy of novel DPP-4 and SGLT2 inhibitors as treatment options for people with T2D. “Newer classes of treatment such as DPP-4 and SGLT2 inhibitors support individualized treatment plans for patients and help in achieving better outcomes. With the introduction of newer therapies, achieving glycemic control has become easier for patients,” said Dr. Abdulrazzaq Al Madani said. DPP-4 inhibitors act by inhibiting the degradation of incretion hormones, thereby increasing insulin release in a glucose-dependent manner and decreasing the levels of circulating glucagon. Boehringer Ingelheim's DDP-4 inhibitor, introduced for the treatment of adults with T2D, is primarily excreted through the bile and the gut rather than through renal elimination. This allows the use of the medication even in patients with failing liver or kidney function.6 SGLT2 inhibition reduces reabsorption of glucose into the bloodstream, allowing excess glucose to pass through the urine, leading to urinary glucose excretion. It has been shown to be an effective way of lowering blood glucose in the management of T2D with a positive effect on body weight and blood pressure. Boehringer Ingelheim revealed physician results from IntroDia™, a global survey about early conversations in T2D, which will include insights from more than 10,000 patients with T2D and more than 6,700 treating physicians, across 26 countries. 60 physicians from Saudi Arabia and UAE participated in the survey. The aim of the survey was to understand how physicians and people with T2D conduct early conversations and the challenges faced during these conversations. Being diagnosed with T2D can be a challenging and emotional period. A person is faced with a range of challenges, including taking new medication and making lifestyle changes, which can trigger psychological distress.4, 5 “It is one of our constant efforts to understand the treatment challenges being faced by doctors and patients and the need for advanced medication, which can help people achieve better outcomes with minimal effects on their lives,” said Karim El Alaoui, Managing Director, Middle East, Turkey and Africa, Boehringer Ingelheim. Some of the highlights include: • Over three quarters of the surveyed physicians (76-100% across 26 countries) agreed that conversations at diagnosis impact the way people with T2D accept their condition, as well as their treatment adherence. • The challenges most commonly reported by physicians during diagnosis conversations were that patients do not always keep up with the required changes, returning to old habits. Physicians also reported not having enough time to carry out important conversations with patients. • Physicians reported that treatment success is dependent on both behavioral change and the efficacy of medication in approximately equal measures which resulted as a 50-50% from the survey. • Most physicians surveyed (92%) also indicated they would like tools to help people with T2D sustain behavioral change.
