New glycemic targets for patients with diabetes from the Japan Diabetes Society

In the “Evidence-based Practice Guideline for the Treatment for Diabetes in Japan 2013,” a new concept of glycemic control in patients with diabetes in Japan has been declared from the Japan Diabetes Society. The main objective value of HbA1c was set to <7% from the perspective of preventing microvascular complications. On the other hand, the objective in cases where objectives can be attained by appropriate dietary or exercise therapy or during pharmacotherapy without the occurrence of side effects such as hypoglycemia was set to <6%, and the objective in cases where intensification of treatment was considered difficult because of the side effects such as hypoglycemia or for other reasons was set to <8%. Treatment objectives should be established individually, considering the age, duration of disease, organ damage, risk of hypoglycemia, support structure, etc.