Diabetes Treatment

Common Forms of Medication

Jun 15, 2008 Daniel Devine

The majority of people with diabetes must take some form of medication to control the level of sugar in their blood. Several different forms of medication are available.

Type I Diabetes

Insulin

Type I diabetics cannot produce insulin, the hormone needed to absorb sugar into their cells. Because of this, at present shots of insulin are the only real choice for treatment. However, many different varieties of insulin exist. Some are fast acting and cause blood sugar levels to drop quickly over a short period of time. Others cause levels to drop by small amounts over a much longer period. Many diabetics combine different forms of insulin to help control their glucose levels.

Type II Diabetes

Since type II diabetics produce a limited amount of insulin, some are able to control the disease without injections of insulin and a number of drugs have been developed to assist them in controlling their blood sugar. Many type II diabetics find that taking insulin in addition to oral medication helps them maintain healthier blood sugar levels, and often they find it necessary as they grow older and the disease progresses.

Medications that raise insulin levels

Two classes of drugs, the sulfonylureas and the meglitnides, target the pancreas and cause it to increase the amount of insulin present in the blood. Increased insulin means that the cells absorb more sugar but, like insulin users, people taking these medications have to guard against their blood sugar dropping to low.

Medications that lower the amount of sugar released from the liver

Metformin, one of the most commonly prescribed diabetes drugs, is part of a group of medications called the biguanide drugs. One of the liver's roles in our body is to store energy and release more sugar into the blood when it is needed. Since a diabetic's cells can't absorb enough of the sugar that they eat and their sugar levels are already too high, this can be problematic. These drugs target the liver and keep it from releasing glucose into the blood.

Medications that make cells more responsive to insulin

Some diabetics suffer from a condition known as insulin resistance where higher and higher levels of insulin must be produced for cells to absorb the same amount of sugar from the blood. A group of drugs known as the TZDs fight this resistance and make the cells react more strongly to lower concentrations of insulin.

Medications that slow starch digestion

Before starches enter your bloodstream they have to be digested by your stomach and broken down into smaller sugars. Drugs such as acarbose are starch blockers that inhibit this process. Because the sugars take longer to enter your bloodstream, there is a more gradual increase in blood sugar following a meal, which helps keep levels from rising too high.

References

Managing Your Diabetes: Comprehensive Patient Education Program; Eli Lilly and Company, 2001.

The copyright of the article Diabetes Treatment in General Medicine is owned by Daniel Devine. Permission to republish Diabetes Treatment in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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