Type 2 Diabetes
There’s More to Type 2 Diabetes Than Blood Glucose
(ARA) – It’s no secret that maintaining blood glucose (sugar) levels is central to diabetes management. In fact, reaching the recommended blood glucose goals could limit serious diabetes complications such as blindness, nerve damage and amputation. Another condition that many people with type 2 diabetes face is diabetic dyslipidemia, a condition which can damage blood vessels. Results from a New Study Results of a new conversion study, COMPLEMENT, showed that the type 2 diabetes drug ACTOS (pioglitazone HCl) kept blood glucose levels under control and significantly improved lipid (blood fats) levels above and beyond those achieved with a statin alone.
Specifically, triglycerides were reduced by more than 20 percent and total cholesterol fell by 10.5 percent. “These data suggest ACTOS, in additional to controlling blood glucose, may provide additional lipid benefits that, together with a statin, might be helpful in addressing diabetic dyslipidemia,” says Mehmood Khan, M.D., F.A.C.E., senior vice president for medical and scientific affairs at Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America. Diabetic dyslipidemia is a common lipid disorder.
This condition is characterized by high levels of triglycerides (fats from food), low levels of HDL (“good” cholesterol), and small, dense forms of LDL (“bad” cholesterol). People with diabetic dyslipidemia are commonly prescribed cholesterol-lowering statin medications, which target LDL, or “bad” cholesterol. However, the American Diabetes Association recognizes that a single treatment cannot address all the components of the condition. “According to the Centers for Disease Control, about 70 to 97 percent of people with type 2 diabetes have diabetic dyslipidemia,” says Dr. Khan. “Currently, there is no single treatment for diabetic dyslipidemia, so a combination of drugs is typically prescribed to resolve individual lipid imbalances, as well as addressing blood glucose monitoring control.”
Type II Diabetes and Glucose Meters
|
