Type 2 diabetes is a health issue affecting millions of people worldwide. There are medications to help control blood sugar levels, like metformin and glipizide, but not everyone responds to these drugs the same way.
Right now, doctors usually don’t look at your specific genetic makeup when deciding which medication to give you. That could be a problem, because what works well for one person might not be effective for another.
The Study: Digging into Our DNA
Researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital wanted to see if our genes could give us clues about which diabetes medications would work best for us.
They ran a study called SUGAR-MGH, where they looked at the genetic information of 1,000 people who are at risk of getting type 2 diabetes.
These folks were given a short course of either metformin or glipizide, and the researchers tracked how their blood sugar and insulin levels changed.
What’s special about this study? It included people from different racial backgrounds. This is important because most studies of this type have focused mainly on people of European descent.
What Did They Find?
The researchers found five different gene variations that seem to influence how well metformin or glipizide work. Interestingly, three of these variations were more common in people of African ancestry.
For example, people with one specific variation (called rs111770298) didn’t respond to metformin as well as others did.
In another part of the study, they found a different gene variation (called rs703972) that seems to boost the levels of a helpful hormone.
This hormone, called glucagon-like peptide 1, helps our bodies produce insulin and can even help us eat less.
What’s Next?
The research team plans to do more experiments to really nail down what these genetic variations mean for diabetes treatment.
The goal is to make it easier for doctors to choose the best medication for you based on your genetic makeup.
By sharing their findings publicly, the researchers are also inviting other scientists to build on their work. So, the next time you need medication for type 2 diabetes, your doctor might have a much better idea of which one will work best for you.
This study takes us one step closer to more personalized care for diabetes patients. And in a world where diabetes is becoming more and more common, that’s good news for all of us.
If you care about diabetes, please read studies about the Best and worst fruits for type 2 diabetes: a comprehensive guide and findings of Vitamin D and turmeric may aid blood pressure in people with type 2 diabetes.
For more information about weight loss, please see recent studies that the Mediterranean diet can reduce belly fat much better, and the Keto diet could help control body weight and blood sugar in diabetes.
The research findings can be found in Diabetologia.
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