Diabetes treatments
As stated, treating diabetes is all about keeping your blood glucose stable. Living a healthy lifestyle is necessary and you'll find a whole section about it on this website. Secondly, you'll need to test your blood glucose regularly. The third part of your treatment is right below and it concerns medication.
Oral medication
If you’re a
Type 2
diabetes person, you may be prescribed an oral medication.
Type 1
people need to use injections of insulin.
Among the variety of diabetes oral medications, there are:
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Medications that decrease the amount of glucose released from the liver. For example, the medication Biguanides.
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Treatments that stimulate the pancreas to release more insulin quickly, however these may cause hypoglycemia. Examples are Sulfonylureas, Meglitinides and D-Phenylalanine Derivatives.
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Alpha-glucosidase inhibitors slow the absorption of carbohydrate into your blood stream.
Other oral medications
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DPP-4 inhibitors improve the level of insulin after a meal and also lower the amount of glucose made by the body.
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Thiazolidinediones, also known as glitazones, decrease insulin resistance in muscle and fat. They also reduce glucose produced by the liver.
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SGLT2 (sodium-glucose co-transporter) inhibitors improve fasting plasma glucose levels.
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More recently, GLP1 analog injections have proven to increase insulin secretion from the pancreas within minutes of eating a meal. They can be administered in combination with oral glucose-lowering medicinal products and/or long-acting insulin, which is detailed below.
Insulin injections
If you are a
Type 1
diabetes person and for some
Type 2
persons, you may be prescribed an insulin injection treatment. There are several kinds of insulin, and it's administered either by syringe, pen injector or by using an insulin pump.
types of insulins
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Long-acting insulin (also called basal insulin) is active after injection in your body from 1- 4 hours untill up to 20-26 hours, or more . It aims to cover basic insulin needs between meals throughout the day.
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Rapid-acting insulin becomes active in your body around 10 minutes after injection. It can last in your system for 3 to 5 hours.
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Regular insulins are genetically modelled after the body's own insulin. These become active in your body after approximately 30 minutes and remain active for 4 to 8 hours.
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Insulin mixes are combinations of insulin, designed to cover meals and also cover throughout the day.
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