Management of dyslipidaemia in patients with comorbidities—facing the challenge: type 1 diabetes mellitus

Type 1 diabetes is associated with excess cardiovascular risk. In contrast to type 2 diabetes, however, age at the onset of type 1 diabetes and sex are major predictors of cardiovascular risk, while the role of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and lipid-lowering therapy is less clear.

Since most data on the effects of lipid-lowering treatments are obtained from randomized clinical trials that included very predominantly patients with type 2 diabetes, it is almost impossible to specifically discern endpoints in type 1 diabetes. Inversely, most data specific for type 1 diabetes are obtained from real world findings. Consequently, the evidence on efficacy and safety of lipid-lowering therapies available from randomized clinical trials arises very predominantly from type 2 diabetes. Thus, this specific review summarizes the evidence of lipid-lowering drug classes in reducing cardiovascular risk in patients with type 1 diabetes.