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Diabetes Medication:
Pills to Treat the Type 2 Diabetic**
If an effective diabetic diet, weight loss, and exercise
are not enough to bring your blood sugar down near the normal range, then the next step is to take medicine. There are
insulin shots and diabetes medication (pills or tablets). On this Web
site, we will be covering only oral drugs.
Many patients with type 2 diabetes don’t absorb glucose as
well as they should and they don’t make quite enough insulin. Sometimes
they have plenty of insulin but they have insulin resistance, which
means that insulin is not used effectively by the body. Because of this
situation, they must take some kind of
diabetes medication.
There are 3 classes of diabetes medication for type 2
diabetes based on how these drugs operate in your body. They work in the
following ways to regulate blood sugar:
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The first class of diabetes medication makes the body
more sensitive to the insulin that is already present. This class of
products includes the thiazolidinediones, Avandia (rosiglitazone) and
Actose (pioglitazone). It also includes the Biguanides, which
consists of Glucophage (metformin) and Glucovance (metformin +
glyburide, a sulfonylurea).
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The next class of diabetes medication stimulates the
beta cells to release more insulin. This class includes the Sulfonylureas (acetohexamide, Amaryl, Glucotrol, Diabeta, Micronase,
Glynase, Tolinase, Orinase) and meglitinides (repaglinide and
nateglinide).
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In the final class, the breakdown of starches and
certain sugars is blocked or slowed down. This class of diabetes
medication includes the alpha-glucosidase inhibitors, Precose (acarbose)
and Glyset (meglitol).
Each of these diabetes medications may be used in combination because they
act in different ways to lower blood sugar. Many different combinations can be
used but note that there is a risk of additional side effects and the
more drugs you take the more it costs.*
Diabetes medication for people with type 2 diabetes works most
effectively when combined with exercise and good meal planning.
Sometimes after several months or a few years, the diabetes medication might
stop working; the cause is not known. It’s better to add another type
of diabetes medicine than to switch to another pill. Working closely
with your physician, you can experiment by trying more than one type of
pill, several combinations of pills, or a combination of insulin and an
oral agent.*
** Type 2 diabetes medication should be taken with care. These products
interact with other drugs so you need to let your physician know about
any other medicines or nutritional supplements you are taking.* You should also understand which
Type 2 diabetes medications could cause hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) either
by themselves, in combination with each other, or in combination with
insulin injections.*
*Never use a diabetes medication without first consulting with your physician.
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