Combining Oral Anti-Diabetic Agents and Insulin

When you are diagnosed with diabetes, the physician will tell you whether it is Type I or Type II.

Traditionally, Type I diabetes is treated with insulin, whereas Type II is treated with oral anti-diabetic agents.

Often, however, persons with Type I diabetes need the additional support and blood sugar control afforded by both insulin and oral anti-diabetic agents.

Insulin specifically joins with sugars in your bloodstream and assists them into your cells where they are used for fuel, and can be administered via injection of diabetes insulin pump. Oral agents - classified into 5 different groups -provide additional support by:

* Causing your pancreas to release more
insulin into the blood stream
* By decreasing the amount of sugar
produced by the liver
* Increasing the amount of sugar
absorbed by muscle cells
* Decreasing the body's insulin
resistance
* Inhibiting the enzymes that breakdown
sugars in the intestines

By adding more insulin through injection, encouraging the pancreas to produce more, while controlling sugar breakdown and absorption, your blood sugars are more stable.

Stable blood sugars provide better overhealth and decreased risk for complications associated with blood sugar fluctuations.