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Diabetes: prevention, management and treatment

Guest Editors: Prof Naveed Sattar and Prof John Petrie


Recent years have seen a sharp increase in the prevalence of Type 2 diabetes globally, affecting younger adults and even children. This is associated with rising levels of obesity, and lifestyle factors including low levels of physical activity and unhealthy diet, as well as lowered mortality rates in high income countries. The prevalence of Type 1 diabetes is also increasing although it remains unclear why.

In response to this rising epidemic, there have been impressive advances in research and treatment, including diet-based approaches, lifestyle modification, bariatric surgery, clinical trials (novel insulin analogues, GLP-1 agonists, SGLT2 inhibitors) stem cell-based approaches, the artificial pancreas and smart technology, to name just a few.

We are seeking submissions of original research articles (including systematic reviews and meta-analyses) that provide important insights into pathogenesis, genetic risk factors, ethnicity, risk factor multipliers, management of the disease in complex patients (including the very elderly, and younger adults and children), pharmacotherapy and new data from ongoing trials. This collection in BMC Medicine will also include invited reviews, debates and commentaries.

  1. The built environment influences behaviour, like physical activity, diet and sleep, which affects the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). This study systematically reviewed and meta-analysed evidence on t...

    Authors: N. R. den Braver, J. Lakerveld, F. Rutters, L. J. Schoonmade, J. Brug and J. W. J. Beulens
    Citation: BMC Medicine 2018 16:12

    The Correction to this article has been published in BMC Medicine 2021 19:63

  2. National guidance on preventing type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in the UK recommends low-intensity lifestyle interventions for individuals with intermediate categories of hyperglycaemia defined in terms of imp...

    Authors: Samantha Roberts, Dawn Craig, Amanda Adler, Klim McPherson and Trisha Greenhalgh
    Citation: BMC Medicine 2018 16:16
  3. Fiscal interventions are promising strategies to improve diets, reduce cardiovascular disease and diabetes (cardiometabolic diseases; CMD), and address health disparities. The aim of this study is to estimate ...

    Authors: José L. Peñalvo, Frederick Cudhea, Renata Micha, Colin D. Rehm, Ashkan Afshin, Laurie Whitsel, Parke Wilde, Tom Gaziano, Jonathan Pearson-Stuttard, Martin O’Flaherty, Simon Capewell and Dariush Mozaffarian
    Citation: BMC Medicine 2017 15:208
  4. While the United States has the largest number of children with type 1 diabetes mellitus, less is known regarding adult-onset disease. The present study utilizes nationwide data to compare the incidence of typ...

    Authors: Mary A. M. Rogers, Catherine Kim, Tanima Banerjee and Joyce M. Lee
    Citation: BMC Medicine 2017 15:199
  5. There is an increasing incidence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in young urban South-Asians. We tested the effect of a pragmatic trimonthly lifestyle modification (LSM) programme (P-LSM) versus a less-inte...

    Authors: Mahen Wijesuriya, Nikolaos Fountoulakis, Nicola Guess, Sarath Banneheka, Laksha Vasantharajah, Martin Gulliford, Giancarlo Viberti, Luigi Gnudi and Janaka Karalliedde
    Citation: BMC Medicine 2017 15:146

    The Correspondence to this article has been published in BMC Medicine 2019 17:162

    The Correspondence to this article has been published in BMC Medicine 2019 17:121

  6. In adulthood, autoimmune diabetes can present as non-insulin-requiring diabetes, termed as ‘latent autoimmune diabetes in adults’ (LADA). In this study, we investigated established type 1 diabetes (T1D) and ty...

    Authors: Rajashree Mishra, Alessandra Chesi, Diana L. Cousminer, Mohammad I. Hawa, Jonathan P. Bradfield, Kenyaita M. Hodge, Vanessa C. Guy, Hakon Hakonarson, Didac Mauricio, Nanette C. Schloot, Knud B. Yderstræde, Benjamin F. Voight, Stanley Schwartz, Bernhard O. Boehm, Richard David Leslie and Struan F. A. Grant
    Citation: BMC Medicine 2017 15:88
  7. The ileal-derived hormone, fibroblast growth factor 19 (FGF-19), may promote weight loss and facilitate type-2 diabetes mellitus remission in bariatric surgical patients. We investigated the effect of differen...

    Authors: Lucia Martinez de la Escalera, Ioannis Kyrou, Jana Vrbikova, Voitech Hainer, Petra Sramkova, Martin Fried, Milan K. Piya, Sudhesh Kumar, Gyanendra Tripathi and Philip G. McTernan
    Citation: BMC Medicine 2017 15:34
  8. Maternal overweight and obesity during pregnancy is associated with insulin resistance, hyperglycaemia, hyperlipidaemia and a low-grade state of chronic inflammation. The aim of this pre-specified analysis of ...

    Authors: Lisa J. Moran, Louise M. Fraser, Tulika Sundernathan, Andrea R. Deussen, Jennie Louise, Lisa N. Yelland, Rosalie M. Grivell, Anne Macpherson, Matthew W. Gillman, Jeffrey S. Robinson, Julie A. Owens and Jodie M. Dodd
    Citation: BMC Medicine 2017 15:32
  9. Rising rates of obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2D) are impending major threats to the health of African populations, but the extent to which they differ between rural and urban settings in Africa and upon migra...

    Authors: Charles Agyemang, Karlijn Meeks, Erik Beune, Ellis Owusu-Dabo, Frank P. Mockenhaupt, Juliet Addo, Ama de Graft Aikins, Silver Bahendeka, Ina Danquah, Matthias B. Schulze, Joachim Spranger, Tom Burr, Peter Agyei-Baffour, Stephen K. Amoah, Cecilia Galbete, Peter Henneman…
    Citation: BMC Medicine 2016 14:166
  10. The association of thyroid function with risk of type 2 diabetes remains elusive. We aimed to investigate the association of thyroid function with incident diabetes and progression from prediabetes to diabetes...

    Authors: Layal Chaker, Symen Ligthart, Tim I. M. Korevaar, Albert Hofman, Oscar H. Franco, Robin P. Peeters and Abbas Dehghan
    Citation: BMC Medicine 2016 14:150
  11. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common hepatic disorder worldwide, reaching prevalence up to 90 % in obese patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D), and representing an independent risk factor...

    Authors: Ilaria Barchetta, Maria Del Ben, Francesco Angelico, Michele Di Martino, Antonio Fraioli, Giuseppe La Torre, Rosella Saulle, Ludovica Perri, Sergio Morini, Claudio Tiberti, Laura Bertoccini, Flavia Agata Cimini, Francesca Panimolle, Carlo Catalano, Marco Giorgio Baroni and Maria Gisella Cavallo
    Citation: BMC Medicine 2016 14:92