Background: Few studies have examined the effect of adding a third antihyperglycemic drug when blood glucose control is not achieved by using metformin and a sulfonylurea.

Data on the potential beneficial effects of combining diet and exercise on blood pressure (BP) are still scarce. A 4‐week randomized controlled clinical trial was undertaken in 40 hypertensive patients with type 2 diabetes with uncontrolled blood pressure (BP) in office and daytime ambulatory BP monitoring (ABPM). Patients were assigned to follow a Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet associated with advice to increase walking using a pedometer (intervention group) or a diet based on the American Diabetes Association recommendations (control group). The lifestyle intervention caused a greater ABPM (mm Hg) reduction in systolic 24‐hour, diastolic 24‐hour, nighttime systolic, daytime systolic, and daytime diastolic measurements than observed in the control group. In the intervention group there was a decrease in urinary sodium and an increase in urinary potassium, plasma aldosterone, and the number of steps per day (P<.05). The DASH diet and increased walking were associated with clinically significant reductions in ABPM values in hypertensive patients with type 2 diabetes.

OBJECTIVEDiet is the cornerstone treatment of patients with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), but its role in maternal and newborn outcomes has been scarcely studied. The purpose of this study was to analyze the efficacy of dietary interventions on maternal or newborn outcomes in patients with GDM. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODSA systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials (RCTs) of dietary intervention in GDM or pregnancy with hyperglycemia was performed. MEDLINE, Embase, ClinicalTrials.gov, Cochrane, and Scopus were searched through to March 2014. The main evaluated maternal outcomes were proportion of patients using insulin and proportion of cesarean delivery; the newborn outcomes were proportion of macrosomia and hypoglycemia and newborn weight. RESULTSFrom 1,170 studies, nine RCTs, including 884 women aged 31.5 years (28.7-33.2) with 27.4 weeks (24.1-30.3) of gestation, were eligible. We divided the RCTs according to the type of dietary intervention: low glycemic index (GI) (n = 4; 257 patients), total energy restriction (n = 2; 425 patients), low carbohydrates (n = 2; 182 patients), and others (n = 1; 20 patients). Diet with low GI reduced the proportion of patients who used insulin (relative risk 0.767 [95% CI 0.597, 0.986]; P = 0.039) and the newborn birth weight (weight mean differences 2161.9 g [95% CI 2246.4, 277.4]; P = 0.000) as compared with control diet. Total restriction and low carbohydrate diets did not change either maternal or newborn outcomes. CONCLUSIONSA low GI diet was associated with less frequent insulin use and lower birth weight than control diets, suggesting that it is the most appropriate dietary intervention to be prescribed to patients with GDM.