Detection and treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus - an interdisciplinary problem

Abstract

Diabetes morbidity exceeds the predicted level. The Russian diabetes registry contains the data on more than 3 million patients suffering from type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2), but their actual number in the country is supposed to be several times greater. The main causes behind this increase are ageing of the general population and widespread obesity. The number of patients with DM2 is now so large that endocrinologists are unable to render medical assistance to all of them; therefore therapists and general practitioners have to take care of such patients. In order to improve the quality of therapeutic and prophylactic aids for the diabetic patients, the Endocrinological Research Centre of the Russian Ministry of Health supported by Novo Nordisk has developed the "Medical Ambitions" project . In the framework of this project, the education program was elaborated and implemented designed to enhance the awareness among therapists and general practitioners about modern approaches to the management of type 2 diabetes mellitus. The present paper reports the results of analysis of the work of educational seminars carried out by the specialists of I.P. Pavlov Sank-Peterburg State Medical University. The work included lectures, interactive seminars, clinical case studies, and discussions. Special attention was given to the new groups of medications for the treatment of DM2. The effectiveness of these activities was estimated from questionnaires distributed among the participants before and after the seminars. The therapists showed great interest in the program, the level of their knowledge about up-to-date strategies of DM2 treatment appreciably increased.