Side-effects or other medical conditions for diabetic patients

Question

I have a database of diabetic patients and their medication/lab test data as well.

1) I am planning to run a simple analysis like finding out incidence rate

example: amongst the T2DM patients that I have, who experienced the XXXX outcome during the 3 years follow-up.

Now, I would like to know from you what are the different medical outcomes that a T2DM patient could experience?

example: Eye disease. I read online that it is possible. But similarly is there anything else?

2) I would also like to run a simple analysis same as above but based on the side-effects of drugs. A question for example:

Among the T2DM patients who had Drug A/Drug class A, who developed XXXX side-effect during the 3 years follow-up?

My question

What are the side-effects? I see that we have things like diarrhea.But don't know whether it is good to be considered. can you help?

Answer 1

American Diabetes Association has a comprehensive list of complications of diabetes type 1 and 2 (most complications can occur in both types). Here are some complications that are quite typical, but not all are specific for diabetes:

• Acanthosis nigricans
• Diabetic dermopathy
• Necrobiosis lipoidica diabeticorum
• Eruptive xanthomatosis
• Diabetic retinopathy
• Diabetic cataract
• Diabetic neuropathy with numbness and tingling
• Autonomic neuropathy with bladder and gastrointestinal issues
• "Diabetic foot" with skin color changes and ulcers
• Hyperglycemia hyperosmolar state
• Diabetic ketoacidosis
• Diabetic nephropathy

Examples of complications that are common but not specific for diabetes: yeast skin infections, periodontitis, gingivitis, high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels, stroke, ischemic heart disease.

Drugs.com has a list of 164 drugs (a mixture of generic and brand names), and clicking to each quickly leads you to side effects.

Diabetes.co.uk has a short list of side effects of various oral antidiabetic drugs (by groups of drugs):

• Sulfonylureas: low blood sugar, upset stomach, skin rash or itching, weight gain
• Biguanides/Metformin: sickness with alcohol, kidney complications, upset stomach, tiredness or dizziness, metal taste
• Alpha-glucosidase inhibitors: gas, bloating and diarrhoea
• Thiazolidinediones: weight gain, risk of liver disease, anaemia risk, swelling of legs or ankles,
• Meglitinides: weight gain, low blood sugar

Here's another one-page list.

Most of these effects, except hypoglycemia, are quite general. Because diabetic patients often take drugs other than for diabetes, there is a great chance that the side effects of diabetic and nondiabetic drugs will overlap, so I'm not sure if you can associate the symptoms in your database with diabetic drugs with any certainty.