Treatment of type 2 diabetes comes in many forms. Many medications can be given to a type 2 diabetic patient. They may be taken orally or injected. Exercise and proper diet are usually all that a type 2 diabetic needs to regulate and control their blood sugar.
On the other hand, your doctor may give you extra medication depending on your health and other factors. He’ll administer one if he thinks he needs to.
Medicines: Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes
Here are some of the medicines usually given to type 2 diabetics:
- Metformin
Metformin is usually a drug used to treat type 2 diabetes. It helps you lose weight and control blood sugar. It also improves the sensitivity of your tissues to insulin so that the insulin can be used more appropriately. This medication should always be used in conjunction with exercise and proper diet. However, if you feel any side effects with this medication, immediately call and inform your doctor.
- Sulfonylureas
This treatment of type 2 diabetes causes the body to produce more insulin, lowering blood sugar levels and causing weight gain.
- Meglitinides
These are like the Sulfonylureas but are more fast-acting. They don’t stay active in the body for too long. They encourage the body to secrete more insulin. Unlike the sulfonylureas, they are also not that risky in lowering blood sugar.
- Thiazolidinediones
This treatment of type 2 diabetes is similar to metformin; however, it produces more and serious side effects such as heart problems like heart failure and fracture. This makes the body more sensitive to insulin, but this is rarely the first choice given to those who are diabetics.
- DPP-4 inhibitors
DPP-4 inhibitors help reduce blood sugar levels. These tend to have the most insignificant side effects because, unlike the others, they don’t seem to cause weight gain.
- GLP-1 receptor agonists
This medication slows down digestion. It lowers blood sugar levels, but not as much as Sulfonylureas do. It also raises the risk for pancreatitis and causes nausea in patients.
- SGLT2 inhibitors
This is the newest drug being used as treatment of type 2 diabetes of diabetes type 2. They prevent kidneys from reabsorbing glucose in the blood stream, so the sugar tends to be excreted in urine. Side effects are usually UTIs and yeast infections.
- Insulin therapy
Insulin therapy interferes with the body’s digestion if taken by mouth, and because of this, rather than taking it orally, it was preferred to be injected.
Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes with Insulin
A dose of injected insulin is needed daily to help the body regulate sugar in the blood. Several Types of Insulin are:
Rapid Acting
- Works in about 15 minutes
- After taking it, the peak comes in 1 hr and continues to work for 2 to 4 hours more.
Regular or Short-Acting
- Works within 30 minutes
- Peak comes in between 2-3 hours and continues to work for 3-6 hours more
Intermediate Acting
- It would take time to get in the bloodstream; it takes about 2-4 hours after injection before being absorbed.
- Peak comes between 4 and 12 hours and will work for 12 to 18 hours
Long Acting
- Takes a longer time to be absorbed in the system but lasts for almost 24 hours.
Insulins are kept in a vial and must be drawn out with a syringe. Present studies have made them in a prefilled pen. Another kind is to be inhaled. You can also get it from a pump. The physician will help you pick the type and delivery method that’s best for you.
These are the readily available treatments for type 2 diabetes. The best thing is to prevent it by living healthily and loving oneself. It’s always up to us.