Incretin-Based Therapies for the Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes: Evaluation of the Risks and Benefits

T ype 2 diabetes is a complex meta-bolic disorder characterized byhyperglycemia arising from a com-bination of insufficient insulin secretion together with resistance to insulin action. The incidence and prevalence of type 2 diabetes are rising steadily, fuelled in part by a concomitant increase in the world-wide rates of obesity. As longitudinal studies of type 2 diabetes provide evi-dence linking improved glycemic control with a reduction in the rates of diabetes-associated complications, there is consid-erable interest in the therapy of type 2 diabetes (Fig. 1), with a focus on the de-velopment and use of new agents that ex-hibit improved efficacy and safety relative