28th May 2025

Background

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a progressive metabolic disease characterised by chronic hyperglycaemia caused by insulin resistance and defective insulin secretion. It is an extremely common disease, with an estimated global prevalence of 8.3% in 2019, with the number of cases drastically rising since the 1980s. T2DM can lead to severe macro and microvascular complications if left untreated, which can majorly affect a patient’s length and quality of life, as well as placing a significant burden on the resources of health services. Options for medical management have blossomed since the 1950s with several oral agents developed. Increasingly, however, there has been a shift in emphasis towards prevention of the disease through lifestyle modification.