Trends in Medication Use Among US Adults With Diabetes Mellitus: Glycemic Control at the Expense of Controlling Cardiovascular Risk Factors

S uccessful reduction of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk among people with diabetes mellitus is increasingly reliant on combination pharmacotherapy targeting its major risk factors, especially hypertension and high cholesterol level. The impact of tight hyperglycemia control on CVD and mortality risk is currently unclear, but its control is a major part of comprehensive diabetes care and is also increasingly attained through combination therapy. We sought to examine the competing treatment priorities for US adults with diabetes by analyzing the use of antidiabetes, antihypertensive, and statin medications over time from the populationbased National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) between 1999 and 2006.