| My Account | Sitemap | Subscribe | Contact Us | Help |
Home
Diabetes Health
Diabetes Health Professional
- Foot Care for Diabetics
Richard K. Bernstein, MD, discusses 19 proven ways to take care of your feet and avoid diabetes-related complications
- Broncos QB Steps into the Pocket with Type 1
Scott Brown writes about Denver Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler's life since his recent type 1 diagnosis
- Diabetes and Eating Disorder Come Together as Diabulimia
Justine Lorelle Blanchard looks at a chilling development among type 1 teens: skipping insulin shots and purging food as a way to achieve rapid weight loss
- Teens on Insulin Pumps: Are They Safe?
Beth Morrow follows up on an article we published in May about teens' problems — occasionally fatal — with insulin pumps
Each week the Diabetes Health E-Newsletter delivers links to the very latest in news, reviews, blogs and videos from Diabetes Health direct to your inbox.
As a subscriber you'll get access to the amazing Diabetes Health Digital Advantage™ so you can read the current issue of Diabetes Health magazine online wherever you are!
Diabetes Health Digital Advantage™, the free, online version of Diabetes Health magazine, virtually identical to the bi-monthly Diabetes Health print magazine, has many additional useful features.
While the pages turn in a similar fashion to a magazine's, direct hot links lead to research articles, products and advertiser sites.
Access to the amazing Diabetes Health Digital Advantage™ is through any web browser, so you can read the current issue of Diabetes Health magazine online wherever you are!
The must-have resource for physicians, educators and medical professionals who focus on the treatment of diabetes.
Finally! A fresh take on the “professional” journal. Each bi-monthly issue cuts through the jargon and presents the most important information you need to enhance your practice and assist your patients.
Each bi-monthly issue of Diabetes Health Professional is a self-contained handbook covering products, educational resources and the latest diabetes research, complimented by balanced editorial focused on medical news, drug prescription information, clinical practice recommendations and changing treatment options.
Each quarter we send you the latest, most updated research guides, product guides and educational resource guides available for you and your patients.
Latest Low Blood Sugar (Hypoglycemia) Articles
Metformin Is Still Tops for Diabetes, Says Study Review
8 August 2007
That old standby, metformin, is still your best bet. In fact, there is no benefit in taking the newer oral medications unless you can't tolerate the older ones.
That was the conclusion of researchers from Johns Hopkins University who examined 216 controlled studies and two systematic reviews in order to compare older oral medicines (second-generation sulfonylureas and metformin) and newer medications (thiazolidinediones, meglitinides, and alpha-glucosidase inhibitors) with regard to medium-term effects on A1c levels, lipid levels, body weight, and adverse outcomes.
Overall, the researchers found metformin to have the best benefit to risk ratio. Metformin was similar to or even better than the other oral medicines with regard to blood sugar control and lipid levels, though it was associated with greater risk of gastrointestinal problems.
In addition, it did not cause the 2.2 to eleven pound weight gain associated with almost all the other medicines. Second-generation sulfonylureas did pretty well too, apart from a greater risk of hypoglycemia.
Compared with newer agents, both metformin and sulfonylureas had three distinct advantages: longer use in practice, more information about longer-term effects, and lower cost. Metformin is available generically for about $40 monthly, for example, while Avandia can cost over $250 monthly.
Thiazolidinediones (like Actos and Avandia) were found to have a lower risk for hypoglycemia and a small beneficial effect on healthy cholesterol (HDL) levels, but were no better at lowering blood glucose and were also associated with adverse effects on bad cholesterol (LDL), weight, and risk of congestive heart failure.
(The researchers noted that large, longer-term comparative studies are still needed on outcomes such as myocardial infarction, chronic kidney disease, and cardiovascular mortality, as this review focused only on medium-term effects.)
The study review, which was commissioned in May 2005 by the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, has been used by Consumer Reports as the basis for its "best buy" evaluations of oral diabetes medications. In sum, Consumer Reports concluded that newer drugs are no better, no safer, and certainly more expensive.
Sources: Annals of Internal Medicine, September 2007
Medline Plus
Share on Facebook
Share on MySpace 
Share on Digg
You May Also Be Interested In...
147 comments - 29 Nov 2007
94 comments - 22 Aug 2007
81 comments - 14 Aug 2008
52 comments - 18 Jan 2008
Comments
Add your comments about this article below. You can add comments as a registered user or anonymously. If you choose to post anonymously your comments will be sent to our moderator for approval before they appear on this page. If you choose to post as a registered user your comments will appear instantly.
When voicing your views via the comment feature, please respect the Diabetes Health community by refraining from comments that could be considered offensive to other people. Diabetes Health reserves the right to remove comments when necessary to maintain the cordial voice of the diabetes community.
For your privacy and protection, we ask that you do not include personal details such as address or telephone number in any comments posted.
Don't have your Diabetes Health Username? Register now and add your comments to all our content.
Register..
Register your Diabetes Health Username here.
Have Your Say...