One in three diabetics stop taking medicines for this reason!

According to a recent study, a third of diabetics, who have been prescribed the most common diabetes drug, are not taking their medication because of side effects. Researchers examined in detail how likely 1.6 million people with Type 2 diabetes were to take their medication. The study combined data from clinical trials and observational studies looking at adherence rates for both tablet and injectable medicines. They found that those who took metformin, the most commonly prescribed drug to treat Type 2 diabetes, were the least likely to take the required dosages compared to other diabetes drugs.

It was discovered that 30 per cent of metformin doses prescribed to patients are not taken compared to 23 percent of sulfonylureas (such as gliclazide) and 20 percent for pioglitazone. Interestingly, DPP4 inhibitors (gliptins), one of the newer medication classes have the highest rates of adherence, with only 10 to 20 percent of medication doses not taken. When comparing injectable medications, it was found that patients are twice as likely to stop taking GLP1 receptor agonists (such as exenatide) compared with insulin. Researchers believe that the variance in adherence rates are in part due to side effects of the different drugs. Metformin commonly causes gastrointestinal symptoms such as diarrhoea and flatulence, whereas DPP4 inhibitors are generally better tolerated by the body.

It is also thought that having to take the multiple doses a day required for some drugs may have an impact on people taking the required medication. A Clinical Researcher said: “The importance of diabetes patients taking their prescribed medication cannot be underestimated. A failure to do so can lead to complications in their condition including eye disease and kidney damage. “We have known for a long time that a lot of medication prescribed for chronic diseases never actually get taken. What this latest research suggests is that patients find some of these medication classes much easier to take than others. 

“I urge anyone who is struggling to take their medication as prescribed, whether this is because of side effects or because the schedule is too complicated, to discuss this openly with their doctor or nurse. Fortunately for type 2 diabetes we have lots of treatment options and switching to a different medication class which is easier to take could provide an easy way to improve adherence. I would also encourage doctors and nurses to actively ask their patients about medication adherence.”

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Type 2 diabetes drug may protect against low blood sugar

A group of drugs called DPP-4 used for treating type 2 diabetes are also found to be effective against low blood sugar levels by stimulating insulin production in the body, new research shows.

 Hypoglycaemia (low blood sugar) can occur in people with diabetes when they have eaten too little or after strenuous physical activity, as well as when they have taken too much insulin.

"If these inhibitors also prove effective in humans against low blood sugar, then this supports the idea that the area of application of these drugs could be broadened to include persons with diabetes that is difficult to control and suffer from frequent hypoglycaemias," said Siri Malmgren, researcher at the Lund University, Sweden.

Normally, the body's own defence against hypoglycaemia is the hormone glucagon, which stimulates the liver to produce sugar and thus raise blood sugar levels.

For those with diabetes, this regulation process does not work, leading to an increased risk of developing hypoglycaemia.

During the study, the mice treated with DPP-4 inhibitors were seen to have much better protection against hypoglycaemia than mice that were not given DPP-4 inhibitors.

DPP-4 inhibitors stimulate the body's own insulin production - which lowers blood sugar.

The drug works by raising the levels of another hormone - GIP - that is secreted in the intestines when we eat.

Giving mice high doses of this hormone also protected them against hypoglycaemia and increased their glucagon levels.

"Our findings could lead to new areas of application for existing drugs. We don't know all there is to know about the medicines we have, and once we have full insight into their mechanisms of action we can use them more effectively," Malmgren concluded.

The study appeared in the journal Diabetologia.

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