Lipid-lowering therapy in patients with type-2 diabetes mellitus

Diabetic dyslipidemia is mainly characterised by hypertriglyceridaemia, low HDL-cholesterol level, an increased small dense HDL concentration, i.e. by atherogenic dyslipidemia. Dyslipidaemia occurs in some two third of the type 2 diabetes cases. In the treatment of dyslipidaemia it is essential to control the diabetes, to reduce the intake of saturated fat and supplement it with monounsatured fat ty acid or complex carbohydrates. Based on the latest studies diabetes is considered the same risk as coronary heart disease and, therefore, diabetic dyslipidaemia should be treated in the same aggressive way. According to the simplified guidelines, after the diet--above 5.2 mmol/l cholesterol level--antilipaemic drugs, i.e. statin should be administered in order to achieve the primary goal of the therapy, namely the 2.6 mmol/l LDL-cholesterol level. In patients with combined II/b type hyperlipoproteinaemia statins are the drugs of first choice, fibric acid derivates being only considered in case of normal LDL-cholesterol level (< 3.4 mmol/l), if the HDL-cholesterol level is also low. Fibrate therapy is the first choice in the isolated hypertriglyceridaemia (> 2.3 mmol/l) as well as in type V. hyperlipoproteinaemia. On the basis of the guidelines far more patients with diabetes should be treated with lipid lowering therapy than before.