3 - IN - 1. ARE WE FOOLING OURSELVES?

Modern medicine has lots of wonders up its sleeves... So do the pharmaceutical companies that manufacture the wonders required for maintaining health. The classical methodology of treatment was using monotherapy (simply speaking its one drug at a time). In diabetes this policy doesn’t work. As I have discussed in many of my previous posts Diabetes is multi-factorial and so does the modality of treatment. Combination therapy is the norm in treatment of Diabetes. We need to squeeze out the insulin from the pancreas plus make the squeezed out insulin work better by increasing the body’s sensitivity to insulin plus reduce the carbohydrate absorption from the food we take... Generally I prefer to start treatment by giving individual medicines. Once the patient’s blood sugar is under control we can try combination of tablets. The logic behind combining is to simplify the treatment schedule for the patient. Lesser number of tablets means more patient satisfaction.

CANAGLIFLOZIN - ONE MORE SOLDIER TO BATTLE DIABETES!

 Canagliflozin - This new compound has been recently approved by FDA for use in Diabetes.


Technically speaking it’s a Selective sodium-glucose transporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitor.

This group of drugs are considered to provide a novel approach to treatment of Diabetes.


 So what do these drugs do?


To put in very simple terms these drugs reduce the tolerability of kidney to sugar in the system so more amount of sugar is excreted in the urine thereby reducing the levels of glucose in the blood.


Many molecules are under research and some of them have reached the stage of clinical trials


To name a few


Remogliflozin
 

Sergliflozin
 

Dapagliflozin

Many other molecules are yet to be named...


The one successful candidate which had obtained FDA approval is Canagliflozin.


As I said earlier it’s a Selective sodium-glucose transporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitor indicated as an adjunct to diet and exercise in treatment of Type 2 Diabetes


Dosage is 100mg per day taken before first meal of the day. Dose can be raised upto 300mg/day.


As like any other medicine known to man this drug also comes with some side effects


Around 10% patients, especially the females faced problems with associated genital fungal infections. Other minor (1-6%) side effects were increased urination, fungal infections in males, vulvovaginal pruritis, thirst, constipation, nausea, and abdominal pain


LIKE FOR ANY OTHER DRUG EVEN THIS DRUG HAS TO BE TAKEN UNDER PROPER MEDICAL SUPERVISION


We are yet to get reports about long term safety and about the usage of this drug in pregnant women and children. Also before we start using this drug we will have to see the effect of this drug in Indian population. So till we get the results let’s keep our fingers crossed and hope that this drug or other molecules of this family succeed. These drugs will give us more confidence to deal with Diabetes in a much more affective way and give all our dear patients a better future!

LINAGLIPTIN REVIEW

i have been doing some random screening of reviews posted on various websites regarding tradjenta.
this is what i have come across as feedback from some patients
1.increase in sugar values
2.drowsiness
3.itching.
4.light headedness
5.breathlessness
6.back pain.
i am not sure if these symptoms are related to the drug or just individual variations.
any body here using linagliptin?
any side effects till now?
any change in sugar values?