Technology in the management of type 2 diabetes – present status and future prospects

The growing incidence of type 2 diabetes (T2D) is a significant health concern, representing 90% of diabetes cases worldwide. As the disease progresses, resultant insulin deficiency and hyperglycaemia necessitates insulin therapy in many cases. It has been recognised that a significant number of people who have a clinical requirement for insulin therapy, alongside their healthcare professionals, are reluctant to intensify treatment with insulin due to fear of hypoglycaemia, poor understanding of treatment regimens or lack of engagement and are therefore at higher risk of developing complications from poor glycaemic control. Over the past decade, the rise of diabetes technologies, including dosing advisors, continuous glucose monitoring systems, insulin pumps and automated insulin delivery systems has led to great improvements in the therapies available particularly to those requiring insulin. Although the focus has largely been on delivering these therapies to the type 1 diabetes population, it is becoming increasingly recognised that people with T2D face similar challenges to achieve recommended glycaemic standards and also have the potential to benefit from these advances. In this review, we discuss diabetes technologies that are currently available for people with T2D and the evidence supporting their use, as well as future prospects. We conclude that there is a clinical need to extend the use of these technologies to the T2D population to curb the consequences of suboptimal disease management in this group.