Let's Talk About Diabetes Medication

Stable blood sugarplays a crucial role in helping you feel stronger and more energetic every day. It also lowers your risk of dangerous diabetes complications, such as nerve damage and heart disease. Diabetes medications that moderate blood sugar levels are often used in combination with each other—you may find yourself using two or more drugs at some point as you find a plan that gets you back to feeling good. Here’s what you should know about the options available to you.

Diabetes Medication

Our Pro Panel

We went to some of the nation’s top experts in diabetes to bring you the most up-to-date information possible.

Nilem Patel, M.D.

Endocrinologist

Adventist Health White Memorial Hospital

Los Angeles, CA

艾米莉Nosova，M.D.

Endocrinologist

Mount Sinai Hospital

New York, NY

Laura Cason, R.D.

认证糖尿病教育家和发言人

伊利诺伊州营养和营养学院

Chicago, IL

What Is Diabetes Again?

A quick refresher: There are three main types of diabetes: type 1, type 2, and gestational diabetes (which occurs during pregnancy). All three types cause people to have higher-than-normal levels of sugar—or, glucose—in their blood.

这里是如何实现的：

• After you eat, your digestive system goes to work breaking down the food into glucose (among other things).

• 当葡萄糖进入血液时，通过释放胰岛素，胰腺响应胰岛素，一种有助于葡萄糖进入肌肉和脂肪细胞的激素，其中它用于能量。

• Your brain, heart, muscles, and just about everything else in your body rely on glucose for fuel.

在type 1 diabetes，人们根本不制作胰岛素，所以葡萄糖在血液中积聚起来。在2型糖尿病and gestational diabetes, the pancreas makes insulin but the body doesn’t use it very well, also resulting in excessive sugar in your bloodstream. Over time, high blood sugar can lead to a host of serious health problems.

Treatment for Diabetes

Whatever your治疗路径, most likely you’ll start by checking your glucose every day, or even several times per day, in order to make decisions about insulin dosages, food, and exercise.

To do this, you’ll likely use a home glucose meter to poke your fingertip with a specialized lancet “pen,” then drop the blood onto a test strip in the meter to determine your blood sugar level. In some cases, your doc might suggest a continuous glucose monitor, where a tiny sensor is inserted under the skin of your abdomen, arm, or thigh to check glucose levels regularly.

Here are a few types of medications your doctor will consider to keep your glucose levels stable, based on your diabetes type:

在sulin for Diabetes

All people with type 1 diabetes need to take insulin daily. Unfortunately, insulin can’t be taken as a pill because it would be broken down and digested before getting into your blood.

There are a couple of different ways insulin can be delivered to the body:

• 在jection:这是服用胰岛素的最常见方式。注射药物，您将使用注射器或“笔”，通常在腹部，上臂，大腿或屁股中。

• 在sulin Pump:People who need multiple injections per day or are high risk of ketoacidosis may prefer an insulin pump, which automatically delivers insulin throughout the day through a tiny catheter that’s worn on your body.

• 在sulin Inhaler:Some adults use inhaled insulin, a powder you breathe into your lung through an inhaler. It’s meant to be taken before every meal, but people will still need to take an injectable, longer-acting insulin.

Newer methods of insulin delivery include a high-pressure “jet injector” that sprays insulin into the skin rather than injecting liquid through a needle. Some people also use an injection port: a tube inserted into your skin that you inject insulin into rather than directly into your skin.

Featured Collections

Eyes on Diabetes

在sulin Types

Different types of insulin are generally categorized by how long they last, how quickly they kick in, and when they hit peak potency. Many people take more than one type. These are the common options:

• Rapid-Acting Insulin:This medication starts to work within about 15 minutes of taking it. You’ll likely take it just before a meal to prevent blood glucose from rising. It works for two to four hours. Examples includeapidra.（glulisin），Humalog(lispro) andNovolog（作为一部分）。

• Short-Acting Insulin:Also called “regular” insulin, this med takes about 30 minutes to kick in. You’ll take it before a meal to help lower increased levels of blood sugar when you eat. It works for three to six hours. Examples includeHumulin RandNovolin R。

• 在termediate-Acting Insulin:Often combined with rapid-acting insulin, this med starts working about two to four hours after taking and balances your body’s glucose levels for 12 to 18 hours. Examples includeHumulin NandNovolin N(NPH).

• Long-Acting Insulin:这些药物需要几个小时的时间来踢。他们努力保持较低的血糖水平长达24小时。例子包括Lantus（胰岛素冰壶）和左边(insulin detemir).

• Ultra-Long-Acting Insulin:这些药物最多可以花六个小时才能到达血液，持续约36小时。例子包括Toujeo(glargine u-300) andTresiba(degludec).

Other Diabetes Medications

有几种不同的药片和液体可以帮助人们管理糖尿病。它们通常与彼此相结合，或用胰岛素进行，以控制血糖。这些药物中的大部分仅用于2型糖尿病的人。

• Actos and Avandia(thiazolidinediones): These oral medications help glucose get out of the bloodstream and into your muscles. Possible side effects include fractures, heart problems, and weight gain.

• Amaryl, DiaBeta, Glucotrol, Glynase PresTab, and Micronase（磺酰脲类）：这类药物鼓励胰腺制作更多的胰岛素。增加的胰岛素有助于降低血糖。可能的副作用包括低血糖，皮疹和体重增加。

• Bromocriptine and Cyclocet(D-2 dopamine agonist): This drug causes the liver to release less glucose. Possible side effects include fatigue, weakness, and constipation.

• Farxiga，Invokana和Jardiance(sodium-glucose transporter 2 inhibitors): These drugs decrease the reabsorption of glucose from the urine, decreasing the amount of sugar in the blood. Possible side effects include yeast and urinary tract infections.

• 葡萄糖，Glumetza，Toftamet和Riomet（二甲双胍）：这些药物减缓碳水化合物的细分为糖，减少肝脏产生多少葡萄糖。二甲双胍通常规定于2型糖尿病的人身上，但有时与1型胰岛素一起使用。可能的副作用包括恶心和腹泻。

• Glyset and Orecose(alpha-glucosidase inhibitors): This type of medication slows the digestion and breakdown of starches into glucose and cuts how much glucose is absorbed by the small intestine. Possible side effects include gas, diarrhea, and stomachache.

• Januvia and Onglyza(dipeptidyl-peptidase 4 inhibitors): These drugs trigger the pancreas to produce more insulin. Possible side effects include upper respiratory tract infections, headache, and sore throat.

• 普兰丁和星形（Meglitinide）：如磺酰脲类，这些药物引发额外的胰岛素的释放。可能的副作用包括低血糖，体重增加和恶心。

• Symlin(pramlintide): This injection, given at mealtimes, slows digestion of food in your stomach, thereby slowing the speed at which glucose enters the blood. It can be prescribed with insulin for people with type 1 diabetes, or with other medications for people with type 2. Possible side effects include low blood sugar, nausea, and vomiting.

• Welchol（胆汁酸螯合剂）：这种药物降低了血糖和胆固醇。可能的副作用包括消化不良，便秘，天然气。

• Other medications:Because diabetes is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, drugs that treat high cholesterol and high blood pressure are sometimes prescribed for people with diabetes as a way to help lower their heart risk.

Diet, Exercise, and Diabetes

您可能不会将它们视为传统意义上的药物，但随着药物处方，饮食和锻炼是自然的补救措施lower your risk for, and symptoms of, type 2 diabetes经过keeping blood sugar stable.

What to Eat

糖尿病没有单一最好的饮食，但植物的膳食和地中海饮食（重点是水果，蔬菜，鱼和健康脂肪）都建议帮助控制血糖水平。

Some people with diabetes may also need to count the grams of carbohydrate in their meals in snacks to help make sure blood sugar doesn’t spike after meals, or to figure out the proper dose of mealtime insulin.

与您的内分泌学家，注册营养师或认证糖尿病教育者谈论，以创造为您的生活工作的个性化的饮食指南。

如何锻炼

移动你的身体是管理血糖水平的关键部分，特别是在2型糖尿病和妊娠期糖尿病中。这是因为身体活动有助于您的身体使用胰岛素更好，降低胰岛素抵抗力，降低血糖水平。锻炼的国家健康指导方针（无论您是否患糖尿病或不）每周要求150分钟锻炼。

That’s the equivalent of 30 minutes, five days a week. You don’t have to be an athletic superstar to exercise. We’re talking about taking a brisk walk around the block a time or two before you head to work, or after dinner in the evening.

有糖尿病的补充吗？

Researchers have looked into dozens of different dietary supplements, from cinnamon to apple cider vinegar to chromium, to see if they help treat or prevent diabetes. So far there is some weak scientific evidence suggesting that chromium may help keep blood sugar levels stable. Other preliminary research indicates that an antioxidant called alpha-lipoic acid might help with diabetes-related nerve issues.

But there isn’t enough evidence yet to show that most supplements move the needle when it comes to treating diabetes, according to the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health.

Your best bet: Eat smart, exercise regularly, and talk with your doctor about the growing number of medications available to help treat the disease so you can get back to living your life.

Meet Our Writer

晴朗的海金

阳光健康的记者我深厚的专业知识n women's and children’s health who has written for some of the largest and most well-known print and digital publications in the United States. She’s also the author of the bookFood: The Good Girl’s Drug，并在身体形象，饮食障碍，父母身份和心理健康上写出散文和报告的作品。她住在波特兰，或与她的丈夫和两个女儿一起生活。

What to Read Next

何时测试你的血糖

A Beginner's Guide to Insulin

What If You Could Take Insulin on an As-Needed Basis?

糖尿病患者的伟大礼物理念