Diabetes In Control. A free weekly diabetes newsletter for Medical Professionals. News and information for Medical Professionals.
Letter from the Editor
There has been a lot of clamor over the introduction of Wegovy for weight loss. The GLP-1 mimetic had such a huge introduction that supply was not able to keep up with demand. This is a double strength Ozempic product and looks to help patients with obesity as well as diabetes patients. Does this mean that if we double the dose of drugs like the SGLT-2 inhibitors, we will get extra weight loss as well?
It is likely those studies are going on right now as our intern Kornelia Ilias, Pharm.D. Candidate, Creighton University School of Pharmacy, found some new evidence that in certain populations the SGLT-2 inhibitors cause more weight loss than the GLP-1 mimetics. Click on her Laterpay article to find out who these drugs worked best for.
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We can make a difference!
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Dave Joffe
Editor-in-chief
TOP STORIES — Diabetes News and Research
Contrary to previous studies, new research finds SGLT-2i more effective for weight loss than GLP-1 RAs as add-on therapy to Metformin.
The prevalence of gestational diabetes may be related to the duration of sleep among pregnant women.
Dasiglucagon is a glucagon analog stable in an aqueous formulation with FDA approval for severe hypoglycemia use. The target population is patients with diabetes who are six years of age and older, but how effective is it among other subgroups?
Fact: Half Abandon Metformin Within a Year of Diagnosis
New data shows that nearly half of adults prescribed metformin after a new diagnosis of T2D stopped taking their metformin within one year.
From a retrospective analysis of administrative data, the findings from 2012-2017 also show that the fall-off in metformin adherence was most dramatic during the first 30 days. In most cases, there was no concomitant substitution of another glucose-lowering drug.
One of the reasons for the discontinuation is that patients might not realize the importance of taking the medication; that is where the education comes in. If the patient understood why they are taking the medications and what the medication is doing to reduce their risk for the complications, they would not stop. So often, the physician writes the prescription for 3 months and refills for a year, yet no one monitors whether the patient continues to fill the prescription.
Side effects are an issue, but not for most. Any clinician who prescribes metformin knows side effects, such as upset stomach, diarrhea, and nausea. But certainly, it’s not half [who experience these]…. Many people don’t accept taking it lifelong, especially since they probably don’t feel any better about it. Communication with the patient is key to preventing the discontinuation of their medications.
The data were recently published online in Diabetic Medicine by David J. T. Campbell, MD, Ph.D., of the University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and colleagues.
Diabetes in Control gratefully acknowledges the assistance of the following pharmacy doctoral candidates in the preparation of this week’s newsletters:
Macrina Ghali, PharmD Candidate 2021, Florida A&M University, College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences
Kornelia Ilias, Creighton University | School of Pharmacy and Health Professions Doctor of Pharmacy Candidate Class of 2022
Alan Martinez, PharmD Candidate, University of South Florida Taneja College of Pharmacy
Your Friends in Diabetes Care
Steve and Dave
Diabetes In Control
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