Diabetes and Drug Treatments
Diabetes Types
Type 1 diabetes is also called juvenile diabetes because it tends to occur in young people and children. It happens when the person’s body fails to produce adequate amounts of insulin. Insulin is the hormone made by the pancreas that helps the body to regulate blood sugar. When the body lacks enough insulin to perform this function, the individual is typically diagnosed with type 1 diabetes or juvenile diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is different in that the body may produce enough insulin but the body’s cells are insulin-resistant, so the insulin cannot do its job of converting blood sugar into energy, which makes the blood sugar level rise to a dangerously high level. Type 2 diabetes is the most common form of diabetes.
Gestational diabetes is the third type of diabetes. It occurs in women who are pregnant. It is not infrequent for this to happen to pregnant women, and post-pregnancy the woman can develop type 2 diabetes. However, the woman’s body can also return to normal and there will be no more symptoms of diabetes. Just because a woman has gestational diabetes does not mean, therefore, that she will be a diabetic the rest of her life. In fact, diet and exercise...
Diet has been shown to be an effective way to prevent diabetes for a number of populations (Pronk & Remington, 2015).
Treating Diabetes
One type of drug used to treat type 2 diabetes is the oral drug metformin, the common brand of which is called Riomet. This drug must be prescribed by a physician and is taken by the mouth usually 1-3 times per day, with meals. The individual is able to measure out the dose himself using a measuring device at home. This popular drug has been used by many patients with diabetes over the years—however, it is not without its risks and side effects. As opposed to other type 2 diabetes drugs which are injected using a prick pen that shoots the insulin into the body and is self-administered, too, metformin can be swallowed using a spoon.
Side Effects
One study has shown that metformin is now associated with cognitive impairment (Faux & Watters, 2014). Metformin can cause B12 levels to drop as well, which is why Faux and Watters (2014) also point out that patients who use this drug should be monitored…
