Okay, so it turns out that jumping on the treadmill for 45 minutes a day, eating salad for lunch, and switching to low-carb pasta wasn't enough. You took a blood test, and your doctor delivered the news: An A1c test shows that your blood sugar is still too high. Or maybe you were able to lower it into the safe range for a few months or even years, but your glucose has begun to creep upward. If you don't take additional steps, you may soon begin to feel the effects of your raging blood sugar from head to toe.

Don't sweat it -- your doctor has at his or her disposal a long list of medications that can help. (But keep up the sweating and the salads; antidiabetes drugs are an addition to exercise and a healthy diet, not a replacement.)

There are a number of type 2 diabetes medications that can regulate a patient's blood sugar without resorting to insulin.

Most of the medications used to treat type 2 diabetes fall into one of several categories:

• Drugs that decrease insulin resistance
• Drugs that work inside your pancreas to increase the body's supply of insulin
• Drugs that retrain your existing supply of insulin to work more effectively
• Drugs that reduce the rate at which your body absorbs sugar
• Drugs that control appetite and blunt huge glucose spikes following meals

The good news: Most of these drugs come in the form of a pill. The not-as-good news: Many of these medications can cause side effects ranging from bothersome to debilitating, though in many cases lowering your dosage brings relief or the effects fade over time. You will probably have to take whatever drug or combination of drugs your doctor prescribes for the rest of your life. But research shows that controlling blood sugar can delay the onset of the complications you'll be reading about later on.

The following medications are a bit like superheroes. Each one has a unique power. But instead of saving the world with their superhuman strength and speed, these drugs simply act in different parts of the body to ensure that you are able to maintain stable blood sugar:

Sulfonylureas
These are first pills ever created to treat diabetes. These drugs work by stimulating your pancreas to produce more insulin. The following are profiles of three types of sulfonylureas:

• Glimepride
• Glipizide
• Glyburide

Meglitinides
Similar to sulfonylureas, these drugs also make your pancreas produce more insulin, only much faster. As a result, these drugs are ideal for post-meal blood-sugar spikes.

• Nateglinide
• Repaglinide

Biguanides
This class of drug reduces the amount of glucose that is produced by the liver. This is a valuable medication for controlling glucose levels between meals.

• Metformin

Thiazolidinediones
This group of medications is relatively new to the scene and, like most new drugs, is surrounded by controversy. Thiazolidinediones are supposed to lower insulin resistance, which is the main cause of type 2 diabetes.

• Pioglitazone
• Rosiglitazone

Alpha-Glucosidase Inhibitors
This class of medication works on your digestive system to slow the absorption of glucose into the blood. This drug can help prevent the surges of glucose usually found after a meal.

• Acarbose
• Miglitol

Exenatide
This is an injected drug that was developed to stimulate insulin production and deter the release of glucagon in the body.

Pramlinitide
This is another injected drug to treat type 2 diabetes that helps regulate glucose levels, especially after meals.

Insulin Therapy and Type 2 Diabetes
If your blood glucose levels remain elevated despite your best efforts to diet and exercise, your doctor may prescribe insulin to treat your type 2 diabetes. Learn more on this page.

Insulin
On this page, you will learn about the history of insulin, the various types of insulin, and how to correctly inject insulin.

For more information on diabetes in general, try the following links:

• To learn more about diabetes in general, including diagnosis, causes, symptoms, and treatment, visit our main Diabetes page.
• Our main Type 1 Diabetes page will tell you more about this form of diabetes, commonly called, "juvenile diabetes."
  
• To find out more about type 2 diabetes, which has reached the level of national health epidemic, go to our main Type 2 Diabetes page.

Suggestions for a Diabetic DietOne of the most important aspects of treating and controlling diabetes is monitoring the food you take into your body. However, there may be more wiggle room than you think. To learn more about proper nutrition and diabetes, try the following links: Our main Diabetic Diet page will show you which food groups are diabetes-friendly and which ones you should avoid.   Visit our Diabetic Recipes page to find simple, delicious meals you can make that won't send our blood sugar into a tailspin.

This information is solely for informational purposes. IT IS NOT INTENDED TO PROVIDE MEDICAL ADVICE. Neither the Editors of Consumer Guide (R), Publications International, Ltd., the author nor publisher take responsibility for any possible consequences from any treatment, procedure, exercise, dietary modification, action or application of medication which results from reading or following the information contained in this information. The publication of this information does not constitute the practice of medicine, and this information does not replace the advice of your physician or other health care provider. Before undertaking any course of treatment, the reader must seek the advice of their physician or other health care provider.

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