Treating diabetes

Treating diabetes

Diabetes stems from one of two issues. The first (type 1) is that your pancreas doesn’t produce enough insulin, meaning you don’t get enough glucose in the blood. The second (type 2) is that your insulin receptors are resistant to the insulin you are producing – meaning the pancreas overworks itself to meet demand.

Historically, treatment’s been pretty binary; administer insulin to bring your blood glucose to a normal level, or stimulate the receptors so insulin is more easily accepted. As many will testify, there are some undesirable side-effects to this method. However, we’re pleased to announce that recent research has shown the benefits of a more dualistic approach.

In one study, patients with type 2 diabetes were treated with a receptor agonist and other oral drugs. However, it came to a point where their insulin deficiency was increasing, and they needed small doses of insulin to support their treatment. This required a lot of education, but also resulted in hypoglycaemia (a glucose-deficient bloodstream), and weight gain. A similar group, who took long-acting insulin and oral medicine, experienced similar effects.

Xultophy allows for good insulin control with far fewer side effects.

In both cases, patients would find it useful to use something we call Xultophy. It’s an odd name perhaps, but fundamentally, it allows for good insulin control with far fewer side effects. It’s also unnecessary to introduce multiple insulin injections before meals, which would be needed otherwise to avoid hypoglycaemia.

Xultophy comes as a fixed dose combination; for every 10 units of insulin, 0.36 mg of the receptor agonist are given simultaneously.  Clinical trials have shown superior reductions in glycated haemoglobin (glucose pairs with haemoglobin in the blood, so it’s a good measure of blood-sugar), reductions of glucose both before and after meals, a small weight loss, and a relative reduction in hypoglycaemia and nausea.

If you’re currently managing diabetes, Xultophy is definitely something to consider. If you’re unsure about anything, or if you’d like to see a diabetes expert, please get in touch, and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can.

Looking to speak with a member of our team?

Carol Willis

Carol Willis - Diabetes Clinic Facilitator

If you couldn’t find what you were looking for today, feel free to give us a call at 0800 048 3330 and ask Carol and her team. Alternatively, just fill in this form and someone will get in touch with you promptly. By using this form, you are consenting to the storage and handling of the data contained in the form by our team.