The Heart in Diabetes CME Conference in Philadelphia featured four key studies published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, focusing on health technology, diet, diabetic cardiomyopathy, and lifestyle interventions. Experts discussed the need for evidence-based digital health technologies, emerging ‘Food is Medicine’ initiatives, the impact of intensive lifestyle therapy on cardiovascular biomarkers, and racial differences in diabetic cardiomyopathy treatment outcomes.
Digital Health Technologies in Cardiometabolic Care
Digital health technologies, including AI, show promise in improving cardiometabolic care, but require real-world evidence to advance their use in clinical practice. Former FDA commissioner Robert M. Califf emphasized the need for robust validation of digital health technologies, particularly post-market, to ensure their safety and efficacy in diverse real-world settings. “Unless we accelerate digital technology and its interface with the human part, there is no way that we can deal with a tsunami of people afflicted with this problem,” Califf stated.
‘Food is Medicine’ Initiatives
Katie Garfield discussed ‘Food is Medicine’ strategies to improve nutrition security and cardiometabolic health, including medically tailored meals, produce prescriptions, and government nutrition programs. While evidence supports their impact, lack of consistent coverage and reimbursement remains a barrier to integration into standard care. “It’s important for cardiology care teams to become familiar with this growing field and its potential to improve patient outcomes,” Garfield noted.
Intensive Lifestyle Therapy and Cardiac Biomarkers
Ambarish Pandey presented results from the Look AHEAD cardiac biomarker ancillary study, showing that intensive lifestyle intervention with weight loss reduced levels of cardiac biomarkers associated with atherosclerotic CVD events and heart failure in patients with diabetes. Every 1 SD increase in NT-proBNP was associated with higher risk for ASCVD events (HR = 1.14; 95% CI, 1-1.3; P = .04) and incident HF (HR = 1.82; 95% CI, 1.4-2.36; P < .001).
Diabetic Cardiomyopathy Treatment Outcomes
Jose L. Lopez presented phase 3 results of the ARISE-HF trial, evaluating an aldose reductase inhibitor (AT-001) in patients with diabetic cardiomyopathy. The study found racial and ethnic differences in baseline characteristics, with Black and Hispanic participants having lower use of diabetic medications, poorer ventricular function, and lower peak VO2 compared to white participants. Despite these differences, treatment with AT-001 showed proportionate improvements in O2 consumption and quality of life measures across racial and ethnic groups.
These conference highlights underscore the importance of evidence-based digital health technologies, nutrition interventions, and personalized treatment approaches in managing cardiometabolic risk in patients with diabetes.
