Management Standards of Polypharmacy in Type 2 Diabetes Combined with Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Diseases in the Elderly

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is one of the common chronic diseases among the elderly. Persistent hyperglycemia damages blood vessels throughout the body, affecting organs and tissues such as heart, kidneys, eyes, and nerves, leading to various complications. Atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases (ASCVD) are the main cause of death in T2DM patients. Such patients need comprehensive treatment such as glucose-lowering, lipid-regulation, antihypertensive, antiplatelet, and urinary protein-lowering treatments. Polypharmacy plays a good role in disease control in older adults with multiple comorbidities, but it also poses a number of problems such as potential drug interactions and adverse drug reactions if applied in an irrational and unscientific manner. This paper analyses the management of polypharmacy in elderly T2DM patients combined with ASCVD, with a particular emphasis on the interactions among hypoglycemic, antihypertensive, lipid-regulating, and antiplatelet medications, as well as precautions, so a