Diabetes means your blood glucose (blood sugar) is too high. Glucose comes from food, and your cells need it for energy; a hormone called insulin helps it get into them.
How diabetes is treated
Treatment depends on the type. The most common are a diabetic meal plan, regular physical activity and medicines. Less common: weight loss surgery (for either type), and an artificial pancreas or pancreatic islet transplant for some people with type 1.
The medicine you take depends on your type of diabetes, your daily schedule, cost, and your other health conditions — and over time you may need more than one.
Type 1: insulin is essential
With type 1 diabetes, your body no longer makes insulin, so you must take it.
- Types of insulin start working at different speeds and last different lengths of time. Your provider uses your blood glucose to choose; you may need more than one.
- Check your blood sugar at home as often as your provider advises; the results guide decisions about food, activity and medicine.
| How insulin is taken | |
|---|---|
| Needle and syringe, or insulin pen | several times a day, including with meals |
| Insulin pump | small, steady doses throughout the day |
| Less common | inhalers, injection ports, jet injectors |
Rarely, insulin alone isn't enough and another diabetes medicine is added.
Type 2: many options
Some people with type 2 diabetes manage their blood sugar with healthy food and physical activity alone; others need medicines.
- There are several kinds, each working differently. Many are pills; others, including insulin, are injected under the skin. Some people take both.
- Over time you may add a medicine or switch to a combination pill containing more than one.
- Even if you don't usually take insulin, you may need it at special times, such as pregnancy or a hospital stay.
What else to know
Medicines don't replace the basics: keep eating well, stop smoking, take your other medicines and stay active.
Ask your provider:
- your target blood sugar;
- what to do if it goes too low or too high;
- whether your diabetes medicines interact with your others;
- what side effects to expect.
Don't change or stop your diabetes medicines on your own — talk to your provider first.
Sources
Based on the MedlinePlus health topic "Diabetes Medicines," National Library of Medicine, drawing on the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases; a work of the United States government in the public domain.
Licence: CC0 1.0 (public domain) · Adapted from medlineplus.gov
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