Published in:
01-11-2010 | Letter
The combinatorics of medications precludes evidence-based algorithms for therapy
Author:
D. Rodbard
Published in:
Diabetologia
|
Issue 11/2010
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Excerpt
To the Editor: In the July 2010 issue of
Diabetologia, Schernthaner et al. [
1] and Nolan [
2] argue that algorithms for the management of patients with type 2 diabetes should be ‘evidence based’. I would argue that it is not feasible to have an evidence-based algorithm in view of the fact that there are more than 100 different treatment regimens when one is dealing with combinations of eight classes of therapeutic agent. The number of possible transitions between treatment regimens is even larger. In contrast, guidelines such as those produced by the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists [
3], the American Diabetes Association [
4], the Canadian Diabetes Association [
5] and others should be evidence based. …
