There are a host of oral medications available for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. Almost everyone is put on metformin as long as their kidneys aren't already damaged. Metformin works by decreasing liver glucose production, decreasing glucose absorption in the gut and increasing peripheral insulin sensitivity. If someone has particularly resistant type 2 diabetes, insulin can be used.
Type 2 Diabetes Treatment
There is no known cure for type 2 diabetes. However, if you manage your condition effectively, you can expect a long, healthy life. Type 2 diabetes is treated with a combination of diet, exercise, and regular blood glucose, or blood sugar, testing.
Recently Answered
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1 AnswerA
American Diabetes Association answeredThe following are some weight loss recommendations if you have type 2 diabetes:- Begin a weight loss program with the help of your healthcare team.
- Ask for a referral to a dietitian who can help you find a diet you can use every day.
- Don't try to do everything at once. Take one step at a time and make changes you can stick with.
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4 AnswersA
American Diabetes Association answeredSee All 4 AnswersThe accepted, tried-and-true treatment for type 2 diabetes is a balance of diet and exercise. Even if you need medications, healthy eating and exercise habits continue to be key in caring for your type 2 diabetes. Most people with type 2 diabetes are advised to lose weight and improve their physical fitness. This can help to lower the body’s resistance to insulin. The severity of type 2 diabetes can be greatly reduced by maintaining a healthy body weight. Even a modest weight loss—10 pounds—can have benefits. By building a healthy lifestyle around a low-fat, well-rounded diet and regular exercise, it is possible to decrease body weight and insulin resistance. Exercise helps by taking some glucose from the blood and using it for energy during a workout, an effect that lasts even beyond the workout. Healthy eating, especially watching the amount of food eaten, helps glucose levels stay lower. As your level of physical fitness improves with regular exercise, so does your body’s sensitivity to insulin.
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American Diabetes Association answeredNot everyone with type 2 diabetes will be helped by oral diabetes medications. Oral medications are more likely to lower blood glucose levels in people who have had high blood glucose levels for less than 10 years, who are using a healthy meal plan, and who have some insulin secretion by their pancreas. The drugs work poorly in people who are very thin.
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Dr. Jack Merendino, MD , Endocrinology Diabetes & Metabolism, answeredFor most people, the type of insulin that should be used first depends upon when during the day their blood sugar is not well-controlled. By “when,” I don’t mean the time on the clock, I mean whether the sugar is at its most poorly-controlled when the person is fasting or after they have been eating.
Many patients have very high sugars when they first awaken in the morning. They have “fasting hyperglycemia,” and they typically find that their blood sugar levels are higher before breakfast than they are before dinner. Often these people are surprised because they have would not have expected to have high glucose values after so many hours without eating. But it turns out that our liver begins to release glucose into the blood stream about 4 to 5 hours after hour last meal. This is so that we do not run out of fuel between meals. In many people with diabetes, however, much too much glucose is released resulting in a very high sugar before eating anything in the morning. These people are best treated with a long-acting or “basal” insulin. This word is derived from “base” or “baseline,” and this kind of insulin provides a baseline or background amount of insulin over a period of 24 hours or more. Because the many non-insulin medications provide better control of the glucose rise that occurs with eating than they do of the glucose release that occurs with fasting, most people with type 2 diabetes who need insulin are first treated with basal or long-acting insulin.
Long-acting insulins include glargine and determir which are marketed under the brand names Lantus, Toujeo and Levemir.
For those people whose morning glucose values are generally within an acceptable range but who have a big rise in glucose values after eating, short-acting (also called “bolus”) insulin given with one or more meals of the day may be the best form of insulin.
Short-acting insulins include the generic form “regular” insulin and the brand-name insulins Humalog, NovoLog and Apidra.
If a person needs both long-acting and short-acting insulin, they can take the two separately or can sometimes take a pre-mixed form of a short-acting insulin with the intermediate-acting insulin NPH. -
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American Diabetes Association answeredIf you have type 2 diabetes, keeping track of your diabetes ABCs will tell you if your diabetes treatment is working. The ABCs of diabetes are:
- A: the A1C or estimated average glucose (eAG)
- B: blood pressure
- C: cholesterol levels
Besides getting an A1C/eAG blood test several times a year to keep track of blood glucose levels, many people check their own blood glucose using a blood glucose meter. Talk with your health care team about how and when to check your blood glucose. You can use the results to make decisions about food, medication, and physical activity. Your health care team will also see if your treatment is working by doing regular checkups and special tests as needed. Your plan needs to change over time. If something in your daily routine changes, or if you're not reaching your ABC goals, it is time for a new plan. -
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Dr. Jack Merendino, MD , Endocrinology Diabetes & Metabolism, answeredThe short answer to this question is no, but it deserves an explanation. First of all, and unfortunately, there is a severe shortage of endocrinologists in many parts of the country, so even if I thought the right answer was yes, it wouldn’t be a practical answer for everyone. But the right answer for this, and for most medical problems, is that you need a good working relationship with a primary physician who is interested in you as a person and your concerns, keeps as up-to-date as can be expected to knowing how much there is to know, communicates well and knows his or her limits. I know of family practitioners, nurse practitioners and general internists who render great diabetes care, and I know some endocrinologists who I don’t think do such a good job.
It’s important to be your own healthcare advocate. Start by being prepared when you go in for your visits. This means having your blood tests done in advance of your visit so that you can discuss the results at the time of the appointment, brining an up-to-date list of all your medications, and bringing well-organized blood sugar readings with you. These steps will go a long way to ensuring that you get good care.
If you’re not having success despite good care from your primary physician and a good effort on your part, ask to see an endocrinologist your doctor trusts. -
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Dr. Darria Long Gillespie, MD , Emergency Medicine, answeredMany drugs can raise or lower blood sugar and lessen or intensify the effects of insulin. Be sure to tell your doctor about all drugs you are taking, including non-prescription drugs, before starting insulin.
If you are taking a glitazone, insulin may not be a good option for you.
This answer was adapted from Sharecare's award-winning AskMD app. Start a consultation now to find out what's causing your symptoms, learn how to manage a condition, or find a doctor. -
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American Diabetes Association answeredSee All 9 Answers
Whether you should take oral medication, insulin, or any medication at all and what sort of insulin or medication plan you need depends on how your body is dealing with the glucose it makes. Your treatment plan is based on your usual blood glucose levels. Ideally, you will want to keep your glucose levels as close to normal as possible. ADA’s general targets for blood glucose levels are 70–130 mg/dl range before meals and less than 180 mg/dl 2 hours after meals. Talk to your provider about setting your own blood glucose targets.
Your treatment plan is based on your usual blood glucose levels. Ideally, you will want to keep your levels as close to normal as possible.
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Dr. Ronald Tamler, MD , Endocrinology Diabetes & Metabolism, answered on behalf of The Mount Sinai Health SystemSee All 3 Answers
Metformin is the most commonly used drug to treat type 2 diabetes. In this video, Ronald Tamler, MD, clinical director of the Mount Sinai Diabetes Center, talks about common drugs used to treat type 2 diabetes.