Type 2 diabetes is a common illness that happens when the body has trouble using insulin. Insulin is a hormone that helps move sugar from the blood into the cells, where it is used for energy.
When insulin doesn’t work properly, sugar builds up in the blood. Over time, this can lead to serious health problems like heart disease, kidney damage, or vision loss.
One of the most common medicines used for type 2 diabetes is called metformin. It helps lower blood sugar and is usually the first drug doctors give to patients with this condition. But for many people, metformin alone is not enough after some time. When that happens, other medicines are needed to help keep blood sugar levels under control.
Now, researchers have found a new drug combination that may help people with diabetes stay healthier for longer. Scientists at Thomas Jefferson University studied two medicines—dapagliflozin and exenatide—to see how well they work with metformin.
They tested the combination in 695 adults who had type 2 diabetes and were already taking metformin, but still had high blood sugar.
The researchers divided the participants into three groups. One group took metformin and added weekly shots of exenatide. Another group took daily pills of dapagliflozin with their metformin. The third group took both dapagliflozin and exenatide, along with metformin.
After two years, the group taking both dapagliflozin and exenatide had the best results. Their blood sugar stayed more stable than in the other groups, and the treatment kept working well over time. This is important because many diabetes drugs lose their strength after being used for a while.
Each of these medicines works in a different way. Dapagliflozin helps the kidneys remove extra sugar from the body through urine. This helps lower blood sugar levels. Exenatide does several things. It tells the pancreas to make more insulin when you eat, tells the liver to make less sugar, and slows down digestion so people feel full longer. This can also help with weight loss.
Because these two medicines work in different ways, they make a strong team. Together, they not only help lower blood sugar, but also help people lose weight and reduce blood pressure. These are big benefits for anyone with type 2 diabetes.
Safety is also important when adding new medicines. The study found no major side effects from using dapagliflozin and exenatide together. This is good news for people who may be worried about trying something new.
Dr. Serge Jabbour, who led the study, said this treatment could be a better option for people whose diabetes is not well controlled by metformin alone. The findings were published in the medical journal Diabetes Care.
This new drug combination gives hope to people struggling with type 2 diabetes. It can help control blood sugar, support weight loss, and lower blood pressure—all without major side effects. If your current treatment isn’t working as well as it used to, this new combination might be just what you need.
If you care about blood sugar, please read studies about why blood sugar is high in the morning, and how to cook sweet potatoes without increasing blood sugar.
For more information about brain health, please see recent studies about 9 unhealthy habits that damage your brain, and results showing this stuff in cannabis may protect aging brain, treat Alzheimer’s.
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