Is the present cut-point to define type 2 diabetes appropriate in Latin-Americans?

Table 1 Differences in cardiovascular outcomes according to the time of disease (diabetes mellitus type 2) before the start of an intensive hypoglycemic intervention

Study	Time since diagnosis	Treatment	Mean outcomes
UKPDS 34 and 80[40,41]	Newly diagnosed	Metformin added to an experimental group, median glycated hemoglobin was 7.4% in the metformin group compared with 8.0% in the conventional group	↓ 32% for any diabetes-related endpoint ↓ 42% for diabetes-related death ↓ 36% for all-cause mortality A continued reduction in microvascular risk and risk reductions for myocardial infarction and death from any cause were observed during 10 yr of post-trial follow-up
The Action in Diabetes and Vascular Disease: Preterax and Diamicron Modified Release Controlled Evaluation trial[42]	7.9 yr	Gliclazide (modified release) plus other drugs as required to achieve a glycated hemoglobin value of 6.5% or less and Perindopril + Indapamide	No significant effects on major macrovascular events, death from cardiovascular causes, or death from any cause
The Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes trial[43]	10 yr	Individualized intensive therapy of a combination of any hypoglycemic drug targeting a glycated hemoglobin level below 6.0% or standard therapy targeting a level of 7% to 7.9%	The intensive-therapy group did not differ significantly from the standard-therapy group in the rate of the primary outcome (a composite of nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, or death from cardiovascular causes) but had more deaths from any cause (primarily cardiovascular)
The Veterans Affairs Diabetes Trial[44]	11.5 yr	Intensive-therapy group goal was an absolute reduction of 1.5% in the glycated hemoglobin level, as compared with the standard-therapy group, metformin plus Glimepiride or Rosiglitazone	No significant effect on the rates of major cardiovascular events, death, or microvascular complications

UKPDS: United Kingdom Prospective Diabetes Study.