Diabetes, a chronic condition, affects how your body processes glucose. With type 2 diabetes, your pancreas either does not produce enough insulin or it resists the effects of insulin. While type 2 diabetes is not curable, it is treatable through weight management, diet control and medication. Several types of diabetes medication are available. Without treatment, diabetes can be life threatening.
Insulin
Insulin, the most common type of diabetes medication, supplements or replaces a diabetic's natural insulin. According to Harvard's Joslin Diabetes Center, individuals with type 2 diabetes usually produce some insulin, but not enough for their body's needs. Also, their cells may resist the effects of insulin. Injected into the fat layer under your skin, insulin moves directly into the bloodstream. More than 20 types of insulin are sold in the United States. The American Diabetes Association explains that these insulins differ in how they are made, how they work and how much they cost.
Pramlintide
Pramlintide, a medication injected at mealtimes, lowers blood glucose levels in some diabetics. Also know as Symlin, pramlintide is a synthetic form of amlyin that works with insulin to help maintain normal blood glucose levels. The primary side effect of pramlintide, nausea, generally diminishes over time.
Exenatide
Exenatide, also known as Byetta, is a new class of diabetes medication referred to as incretin mimetics. Injected twice daily at mealtimes, exenatide lowers blood glucose levels while increasing insulin secretion. According to the Joslin Diabetes Center at Harvard, this drug is for type 2 diabetics who are unable to control their blood glucose with oral medications. Nausea, a side effect of exenatide, usually dissipates over time.
Diabetes Pills
Diabetes pills work most effectively for individuals who take less than 20 units of insulin daily and who have had diabetes for less than 10 years. Generally, a diabetic taking diabetes pills require very little injectable insulin, if any. Used along with meal planning and exercise, pills keep blood glucose levels low. Diabetes pills include sulfonylureas, taken once a day; biguanides, taken two or three times per day; and thiazolidinediones, taken once a day. Ddiabetes pills sometimes stop working, but doctors are unsure why. Women who are pregnant should not take oral diabetes medications.
Aspirin
A low dose of daily aspirin may be recommended for a diabetic who is at risk of heart disease or who has already suffered a heart attack or heart disease.
