New drug combo could treat type 2 diabetes more effectively

Credit: Unsplash+

Type 2 diabetes is a common illness that happens when the body has trouble using insulin. Insulin is a hormone that helps control blood sugar.

When insulin doesn’t work properly, sugar builds up in the blood, which can cause serious health problems over time.

One of the most commonly used drugs for this condition is metformin. It helps lower blood sugar and is often the first treatment doctors try.

But for many people, metformin alone stops working as well after a while. When this happens, they need extra help from other medicines to keep their blood sugar under control. Now, researchers have found a new drug combination that could help people manage their diabetes better for a longer time.

Scientists at Thomas Jefferson University studied two medicines called dapagliflozin and exenatide. They tested these drugs on 695 adults with type 2 diabetes. All the participants had been taking metformin, but their blood sugar was still too high. The goal was to see if adding these new drugs could help.

The people in the study were split into three groups. One group kept taking metformin and added weekly shots of exenatide. The second group took daily pills of dapagliflozin along with metformin. The third group took both dapagliflozin and exenatide, along with their metformin.

After two years, the group that took both dapagliflozin and exenatide had the best results. Their blood sugar levels stayed more stable than the other two groups. The treatment kept working well over time, which is important because many diabetes drugs lose their power after a while.

So how do these drugs work? Dapagliflozin helps the kidneys remove extra sugar by passing it through the urine. This lowers the amount of sugar in the blood. Exenatide helps the body in several ways.

It tells the pancreas to make more insulin when you eat. It also tells the liver to make less sugar and helps slow down digestion. This makes people feel full longer, which can help with weight loss.

Because these two drugs work in different ways, they are a strong team. Together, they not only lower blood sugar but also help people lose weight and lower their blood pressure. These are all big benefits for people with type 2 diabetes.

Safety is also important. In this study, no major side effects were seen from the drug combination. That’s good news for people who worry about adding new medications to their routine.

Dr. Serge Jabbour, the lead researcher, said this new treatment could offer better results for people whose diabetes is not under control with metformin alone. The findings were published in the medical journal Diabetes Care.

This study gives hope to people who are struggling to keep their diabetes in check. A treatment that not only lowers blood sugar but also helps with weight and blood pressure is a big step forward.

In simple terms, if your current diabetes treatment isn’t working well anymore, this new combination of dapagliflozin and exenatide might be just what you need. It’s safe, effective, and works in multiple ways to help manage the disease over the long run.

Copyright © 2025 Knowridge Science Report. All rights reserved.