The shifting paradigm in the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus-A cardiologist's perspective

Aging Fits the Disease Criteria of the International Classification of Diseases

The disease criteria used by the World Health Organization (WHO) were applied to human biological aging in order to assess whether aging can be classified as a disease. These criteria were developed for the 11th revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) and included disease diagnostics, mechanisms, course and outcomes, known interventions, and linkage to genetic and environmental factors. RESULTS: Biological aging can be diagnosed with frailty indices, functional, blood-based biomarkers. A number of major causal mechanisms of human aging involved in various organs have been described, such as inflammation, replicative cellular senescence, immune senescence, proteostasis failures, mitochondrial dysfunctions, fibrotic propensity, hormonal aging, body composition changes, etc. We identified a number of clinically proven interventions, as well as genetic and environmental factors of aging. Therefore, aging fits the ICD-11 criteria and can be considered a disease. Our proposal was submitted to the ICD-11 Joint Task force, and this led to the inclusion of the extension code for "Ageing-related" (XT9T) into the "Causality" section of the ICD-11. This might lead to greater focus on biological aging in global health policy and might provide for more opportunities for the new therapy developers.

The shifting paradigm in the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus-A cardiologist's perspective

In patients with diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular (CV) disease is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality. A multitude of contemporary antidiabetic agents presents different CV safety profiles. Metformin forms the cornerstone agent to reduce CV events. Newer agents, such as glucagon-like peptide-1 agonists and sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors, have appealing CV benefits. Insulin, dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors, and sulfonylureas have neutral CV effects. Cardiologists should familiarize themselves with these agents to promote comprehensive CV care in patients with diabetes mellitus.