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When people hear the diagnoses of diabetes, they tend to assume that insulin injections are the only course of treatment available to them. With Type 2 diabetes this is not the case, and there are many different diabetes treatment drugs that your doctor may recommend you try before you resort to taking insulin. Here are a few of the diabetes treatment drugs available today, along with their possible side effects. Sulphonylureas such as chlorpropamide, glibenclamide and glimepiride, are one form of diabetes treatment. They are taken in tablet form once or twice a day, to stimulate natural insulin production in the body. They have a number of side effects, including nausea, weight gain, and an upset stomach, and occasionally a lumpy red skin rash. Sulphonylureas work over a long period of time and can make the blood sugar drop too low, causing hypoglycaemia. For this reason they are rarely prescribed for elderly diabetics. Often known as metformin, biguanide is another diabetes treatment drug, but it works very differently to sulphonylureas. Biguanide reduced the release of glucose by the liver, as well as assisting the movement of insulin throughout the cells of the body. Taking biguanide with food can reduce the potential side effects which include nausea, diarrhoea and stomach problems. A third type of diabetes treatment drug, designed to limit natural insulin resistance, is thiazolidinediones, often known as pioglitazone or rosiglitazone. Because there is a reduced resistance to insulin, type 2 diabetics taking this treatment are able to use the small amount of insulin they do produce more effectively. Taking thiazolidinediones can occasionally cause respiratory tract infections, or more commonly lead to headaches, fluid retention and increase weight. If you are at high risk of hypos when taking sulphonylureas, your doctor may recommend prandial glucose regulators which also increase the production of insulin in the pancreas, but only over a short period of time. These can cause some side effects such as nausea and an upset stomach, but these are minimal when the tablets are taken with meals. Diabetics taking prandial glucose regulators may also experience weight gain, but a flexible dosage can usually solve this problem. An alpha glucose inhibitor, such as acarbose, is a diabetes treatment that can be taken three times a day. It slows down the rate at which starchy food is absorbed into the blood stream from the intestine, meaning that blood sugar levels rise more slowly after a meal. Your doctor is likely to prescribe a reduced dose of one tablet a day at first, because this will cut down on the side effects such as bloating, wind and diarrhoea. Type 2 diabetics are often deficient in a hormone known as incretin, which limits the amount of glucose produced by the liver, whilst also controlling insulin production. Taking a diabetes treatment known as DPP-4 inhibitors can increase incretin levels, enabling type 2 diabetics to better control their blood sugar. This diabetes treatment should nit be used by patients taking insulin, but can be very effective when used with drugs such as thiazolidinediones. The side effects associated with DPP-4 inhibitors depend largely on which other diabetes treatment drugs they are taken with. Most type 2 diabetics find that after many years of diabetes treatment drugs, their pancreas will no longer produce enough insulin to maintain a healthy blood sugar and they will have to begin insulin injections. Insulin is injected into various sites such as thighs, stomach or buttocks, using a relatively small needle. Even so, many may decide they can't face injecting themselves and will look for alternatives such as an insulin pump. There are a number of alternative delivery methods being developed, including an insulin patch and an inhaler.
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Lisa Janse is a professional writer who specializes in health topics. Learn more about coping with Diabetes by reading more useful and interesting facts on Diabetes Diets at www.sugardiabetes.net
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