The most common form of diabetes is type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes occurs in two situations. One, enough insulin is not produced by your body; and second when the body cells ignore the insulin produced. It normally emerges in adults often in middle age. Chronic and acute are the two major complications of diabetes mellitus. Obesity is often linked with type 2 diabetes and can be controlled or delayed with exercise or diet. To be able to use sugar the body necessarily needs insulin. The basic fuel for the cells in the body is sugar. Insulin carries the sugar from the blood into the cells. When glucose instead of going into the cells builds up in blood, two problems are caused, your cells will be starved for energy, and second high blood glucose levels will hurt your kidneys, eyes, nerves or heart.
The symptoms of type 2 diabetes are:
* Increased hunger
* Increased thirst.
* Increased urination at night
* Blurred vision
* Weight loss
* Sores that do not heal
If you have the above symptoms, then you should consult your healthcare provider.
Type 2 diabetes has two significant risk factors viz. obesity and physical inactivity. If type 2 diabetes is of mild nature then it can go undetected for many years. If left untreated it can lead to many serious medical problems, which include cardiovascular disease.
For treatment of type 2 diabetes several oral medicines are available. The functions of these medicines are to increase insulin production, decrease insulin resistance and slow down intestinal absorption of carbohydrates. To adequately control your diabetes you will need more than one medicine. To lower blood sugar level single medicine will not be adequate and instead two or more medicines will act more efficiently. If you take two medicines together then the side effects can be reduced by having lower doses of each. However, the side effect of low blood sugar or hypoglycemia remains when two medicines are taken together.
If you undergo surgery or are severely ill, pregnant or breast-feeding then you will need to take insulin temporarily. You may also be required to receive insulin injections daily if your lifestyle and pills (oral medicines) are not managing your blood sugar effectively. Insulin will also be essential if and when your pancreas stop producing insulin.
To prevent or to slow down the development of complications you will be required to take medicines.
Medicines that are recommended to increase the production of insulin are:
* Sulfonylureas, such as glipizide (Glucotrol), glyburide (DiaBeta, Glynase, or Micronase), glimepiride (Amaryl), the combination medicine glyburide and metformin (Glucovance), the combination of sitagliptin and metformin (Janumet), or the combination of glipizide and metformin (Metaglip).
* Meglitinides, such as repaglinide (Prandin) and nateglinide (Starlix).
Medicines that are recommended to decrease insulin resistance are:
* Biguanides, such as metformin (Glucophage or Glucophage XR), the combination medicine glyburide and metformin (Glucovance), or the combination of metformin and glipizide (Metaglip).
* Thiazolidinediones, such as rosiglitazone (Avandia), pioglitazone (Actos), or the combination of rosiglitazone and metformin (Avandamet).
Recently the U. S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved new medicines which include:
Incretin mimetics, such as exenatide (Byetta. In case you were not able to control your blood sugar with oral medicines such as metformin or a sulfonylurea your doctor will recommend byetta. You can take byetta.by itself or with other oral medicines. Before morning and evening meals byetta can be administered as injections 2 times a day.
Amylinomimetics, such as pramlintide (Symlin). Pramlintide lowers blood sugar after you eat. In case you already take insulin but you are still not able to control your blood sugar, your doctor will recommend pramlintide. Pramlintide is only used with insulin. You can take it as an injection before meals.
Dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPP-4) inhibitors, such as sitagliptin (Januvia). Sitagliptin lowers blood sugar. When the blood sugar rises this drugs allows the body to release insulin for longer than usual period thus reducing blood sugar levels.
These are the types of type 2 diabetes medications presently used.
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