New Treatment For Diabetes

19 Jul

Posted by admin as diabetes

In recent years, the research into new treatments and cures for diabetes has shown promise. Research also offers hope that diabetes will become easier to monitor and treat, or even that a cure may be found in the near future. However, all of these treatments are experimental.

FDA Approves New Treatment for Diabetes

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced today the approval of Januvia (sitagliptin phosphate) Tablets, the first diabetes treatment approved in a new class of drugs known as DPP-4 inhibitors that enhances the body’s own ability to lower elevated blood sugar.

FDA approved Januvia for use in addition to diet and exercise to improve blood sugar levels in patients with type 2 diabetes, alone or in combination with two other commonly prescribed oral diabetes medications, metformin or a PPAR (peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma) agonist, when either of these drugs alone, along with diet and exercise, don’t provide adequate blood sugar control.

Potential New Treatment For Insulin-dependent Diabetes

Insulin-dependent diabetes is caused by the destruction of the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas (called islet cells) by auto-reactive T cells. The loss of insulin results in an inability to control blood sugar levels. Transplantation of islet cells is an effective way to restore insulin production, but this therapy requires life-long immunosuppression of the patient. Even with immunosuppression, up to half of the transplanted cells are rapidly destroyed by the patient’s own T cells.

Glucose control — keeping blood sugar as close to normal as possible — is vital for diabetics. Patients must prick their fingers several times a day to monitor blood-sugar levels. They must also watch their diet, exercise and take pills.

New treatment for diabetes in pregnancy is safe

An alternative treatment to insulin injections for pregnant women with gestational diabetes has been shown as safe and effective in a new trial led by researchers in Adelaide and Auckland.A clinical trial of 751 women with gestational diabetes in Australia and New Zealand compared two treatments: insulin injections, and the oral anti-diabetic drug metformin.