Diabetes - Treatment For Every Type Of Diabetes

Conventional Medical Treatment

Insulin was the first, and remains the primary means of treatment for Type 1 diabetes and is administered by subcutaneous injection. This method is necessary since insulin is destroyed by gastric stomach secretions when it is taken by mouth. Insulin injections must be balanced with meals and daily activities, and glucose levels must be closely monitored through frequent blood sugar testing. Many diabetics need inject insulin only once a day; others require two or more injections. The usual time for a dose of insulin is before breakfast. The dosage is initially established according to the severity of the condition, but it often has to be reassessed as one or another of the variables in the person's condition changes.

Medicines for Type2 Diabetes

Metformin this is often the first medicine that is advised for type 2 diabetes. It mainly works by reducing the amount of glucose that your liver releases into the bloodstream.
Sulphonylureas for example, glibelclamide, gliclazide, glimerpirizide, glipizide, gliquidone, increase the amount of insulin produced by your pancreas. They also make your body's cells more sensitive to insulin so that more glucose is taken up from the blood.

Type 1 (Insulin-Dependent Diabetes Mellitus)

Type 1 diabetes is treated with intensive insulin therapy. This type of treatment is designed to achieve near-normal blood sugars safely - while keeping the episodes of low blood sugars ("insulin reactions") to a minimum. Insulin therapy includes:

• Multiple Daily Injections of Insulin (Flexibility is important!).
• Use of Insulin Pens or Pumps.
• Use of new type of insulin: Lispro or Humlog (extremely fast-acting) - replaces regular insulin.
Diabetes Medications

Sulfonylureas: Glyburide (Micronase, Diabeta) and Glipizide (Glucotrol). Traditional medicines - cheap, easy to take, work well with many people. Stimulates insulin secretion from the pancreas. Problems: Doesn't always achieve normal blood sugars and may cause low blood sugars. Metformin (Glucophage): Used in Europe for many years. Decreases sugar production by the liver, which contributes to elevated blood sugar levels. Works well with insulin. Problems: Causes gastro-intestinal upset in some, and cannot be used if you have serious heart or kidney problems.

Other treatments

If you have type 1 or type 2 diabetes, you are at risk of developing heart disease, stroke and kidney disease. To reduce the chance of this, you may be advised to take:

• anti-hypertensive medicines to control high blood pressure,
• a statin, such as simvastatin or atorvastatin, to reduce high cholesterol levels,
• low dose aspirin to prevent stroke, and

Diet is indeed a very effective diabetes treatment which means changing your lifestyle in order to bring elevated blood sugar levels down to normal, and it will prevent you from suffering from other complications as well. In fact, obesity is among the leading causes of becoming a diabetic, which requires losing weight so that it will help you become less of a diabetic, figuratively speaking.

Sulfonylureas

Sulfonylureas stimulate the beta cells of the pancreas to release more insulin. Sulfonylurea drugs have been in use since the 1950s. Chlorpropamide (brand name Diabinese) is the only first-generation sulfonylurea still in use today. The second generation sulfonylureas are used in smaller doses than the first-generation drugs.