Plus: when metformin stops working; triple therapy
Saturday, Nov. 21, 2020 : Issue #1082 TOP STORIES - Diabetes News & Research |
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Letter from the Editor
More than a few years ago I was on the international advisory board for Lilly, and the head of the board was Dr. Dan Pollom. We became friends and over the years he has been involved in a lot of great research at Lilly. He recently has been working on the use of CGM devices, TIR and the value of postprandial glucose levels. He has looked at this for the reduction of CVD in patients, and how adding Lilly’s new rapid acting insulin can improve outcomes.
This week our LECOM College of Pharmacy intern, Tarshay Boyd, has culled out the most important parts of an interview with Dr. Pollom for your review in our Laterpay feature.
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We can make a difference!
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Dave Joffe
Editor-in-chief |
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TOP STORIES - Diabetes News and Research |
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| Did You Know? What to do when metformin stops working for your patients:
It has been the standard therapy for newly diagnosed type 2 patients, and even for those with prediabetes, to prescribe metformin since it became available over 25 years ago. Before 1995 metformin and sulfonylureas were the only oral treatments for T2D for more than 50 years.
A recent clinical trial called DURATION-8 investigated a combination of two newer drugs, exenatide and dapagliflozin, in patients whose blood glucose levels did not respond to metformin. The results suggest that the combination was safe and continued to be more effective than either drug alone. In addition to stabilizing blood glucose levels, the drug combination was associated with lower blood pressure and body weight. The researchers report that the drug duo remained safe and effective two years (104 weeks) after treatment began.
After adjustments for other possible contributing factors, those who received both drugs saw the most significant average reduction in their glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels. Many therapies in diabetes management are short-lived, which is why this combination should be considered.
The researchers randomly assigned 695 adults with type 2 diabetes whose blood glucose was not adequately controlled by metformin to three treatment groups: a weekly injection of exenatide and a daily oral dose of dapagliflozin weekly exenatide and daily oral placebo a weekly placebo injection and daily oral dapagliflozin In patients who took both drugs, there were also improvements in blood glucose levels after fasting and 2 hours after eating and reduced body weight and systolic blood pressure. There were no episodes of significant hypoglycemia and a few episodes of minor hypoglycemia. The authors conclude that the clinical benefits of taking both drugs were maintained for two years, with “no unexpected safety findings.” Diabetes Care, Aug 2020 |
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| Diabetes in Control gratefully acknowledges the assistance of the following pharmacy doctoral candidates in the preparation of this week’s newsletters: Abdullah Al-Ajmi, PharmD Candidate, Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences Tarshay Boyd, PharmD. Candidate, LECOM School of Pharmacy Destiny Funchess, PharmD Candidate, Tougaloo College, South College School of Pharmacy Melinda Rodriguez, PharmD Candidate 2021, Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine – L|E|C|O|M School of Pharmacy |
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| | About LaterPay: You will notice that some of our articles are now marked with a small credit card icon. This means you will be asked to pay a small fee to access the full article text (the cost is $0.39 per article, and you will be charged only after you have reached $5.00 in article views). The costs of producing a newsletter like Diabetes in Control have been increasing, which is why we are asking our readers to help support our ability to continue to bring you quality information about diabetes through charging a minimal price to read certain articles. Thank you for helping to support Diabetes in Control. |
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Steve and Dave
Diabetes In Control
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www.diabetesincontrol.com |
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