According to a new review published online in Annals of Internal Medicine, there are numerous regimes of diabetes medications to treat type 2 diabetes in the US. Many of these patients need to take multiple medications to control their blood sugar levels, but they have side effects - hypoglycemia ( low blood sugar levels) is the the most common serious side effect, others include nausea or diarrhea.
Researchers at Johns Hopkins reviewed 166 studies that examined the efficacy of 6 classes of diabetes drugs. They found that most of the medications lowered blood sugar levels by a similar amount and that combination of 2 drugs improved blood sugar control, but no combination was shown to have significant benefits over another. The study found that metformin, an older drug approved in 1995 in the US, was consistently associated with fewer side effects and is cheaper than most newer drugs. Reserachers suggested metformin is probably the best first-line therapy for type 2 diabetes.
The study noted that 95 of the 166 studies reported drug company support, many of them were not long enough to study the side effects. The study leader said longer-term reserach into their impact on long-term outcome is needed .
Siurce: Comparative Effectiveness and Safety of Medications for Type 2 Diabetes: An Update Including New Drugs and 2-Drug Combinations. Annals of Internal Medicine, First published online on March 14, 2011 ( free f/t article)
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