Diabetes Medicine
Ask most
people about diabetes medicine and they will automatically
think of insulin injections. While these are necessary for Type
1 diabetics and some people that suffer with severe Type 2
diabetes, there are a number of other diabetes treatment drugs
and diabetes alternative medicines available that are less well
known.
Diabetes treatment drugs
If you are
diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, your doctor may initially
recommend that you control your blood sugar with a mixture of
diet, exercise and diabetes medicines that are designed to
lower your blood sugar. There are six major
groups of diabetes medicine other than insulin, which
are:
- Sulfonylureas
- to stimulate your pancreas to increase
insulin production.
- Biguanides -
decreases the amount of glucose made by your
liver.
- Alpha-glucosidase
inhibitors - slows
starch absorption to control blood sugar
levels.
- Thiazolidinediones
- to make
you more sensitive to insulin.
- Meglitinides - stimulates
your pancreas to increase insulin
production.
- D-phenylalanine
derivatives - helps
to speed up insulin production in your
pancreas.
Your doctor may recommend that you take a
combination of two of the above diabetes medicines. This
might mean taking two separate pills, or a combined dose
containing two types of diabetes
medicine. Although your specific
diabetes medicine may have a different brand name, it
will contain one or more of the above drug
groups.....read more about diabetes
treatment drugs.
If you cannot control your blood sugar levels
with these diabetes medicines, your doctor may prescribe
insulin injections, either on their own or as well as
diabetes treatment drugs.
Taking insulin as diabetes
medication
Insulin is a protein and so cannot be taken in
pill form as the digestive system would break it down
making it ineffective. Insulin shots
are taken between two and four times a day, and the speed
with which it works depends on the part of the body the
insulin is injected into. Injecting
insulin into the stomach produces the fastest effects,
whereas injecting into the thighs produces the slowest
effects.
What diabetes alternative medicine is
available?
Many people choose to try alternative medicine
instead of diabetes treatment drugs, or complementary
medicine along with their diabetes medication, to try to
find a more natural way to alleviate symptoms of
diabetes. Although research has shown some benefits of
the following treatments, more tests are necessary to
produce definitive results.
- Vanadium has been shown
to normalize blood sugar levels in animals. When used as a
complementary diabetes medicine vanadium can enable type 2
diabetics to reduce their insulin
intake.
- Ginseng is a diabetes
herbal medicine that can lower blood sugar levels when used
over a period of time.
- Magnesium deficiency
can increase diabetes complications and make blood sugar
control more difficult in type 2 diabetics. A magnesium
supplement can be used as a complementary diabetes
medicine.
- Chromium can be used as
a diabetes medicine to increase the efficiency of insulin
in the body.
- Biofeedback for
diabetes is a popular alternative
medicine. This uses relaxation and
stress reduction techniques to teach the body to deal with
chronic illnesses such as
diabetes.
- Acupuncture is
frequently used to provide relief from the pain of certain
diabetes related complications such as
neuropathy.
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