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Type 2 diabetes is the inability of the body to make enough
insulin or it’s ability to use the insulin it does make to fuel the
cells. Cells use the sugar in the blood for energy and growth, but
they need insulin to do so. For a lot of people with type 2
diabetes, a change in diet and exercise is enough to reduce the
insulin resistance and reduce the level of glucose in the blood. For
others, however, these changes are not enough and oral medications
are needed in addition to lifestyle changes.
Oral diabetes medications do one of these 5 things: increase the
amount of insulin the pancreas produces, reduces the glucose
released by the liver, helps the cells to use the insulin more
efficiently, decreases the amount of the carbohydrates are absorbed
by the intestine or delays the absorption of the carbs in the
intestine by reducing the speed at which the stomach empties.
Some treatment plans call for combined forms of these drugs and
many times it takes a series of trials to find the right combination
or even single drug dosage that works. Some of these drugs have a
combined benefit such as the thiazolidinediones that help your cells
use insulin more effectively and help your body produce less
glucose. These drugs, although they may be more expensive, should be
used whenever possible.
There is the possibility of side effects with these diabetes
medications, but they are rare and usually not severe. The
complications that follow diabetes: heart attack, stroke, loss of
vision or the potential loss of a foot or leg, they are much more
severe and more likely to occur if diabetes is left unchecked. The
same could be said about the cost of some of these medications, they
may seem high, but they do not compare to the cost of losing one’s
vision or the ability to walk.
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