Diabetes In Control. A free weekly diabetes newsletter for Medical Professionals. News and information for Medical Professionals.
Letter from the Editor
More than a few years ago I was on the international advisory board for Lilly, and the head of the board was Dr. Dan Pollom. We became friends and over the years he has been involved in a lot of great research at Lilly. He recently has been working on the use of CGM devices, TIR and the value of postprandial glucose levels. He has looked at this for the reduction of CVD in patients, and how adding Lilly’s new rapid acting insulin can improve outcomes.
This week our LECOM College of Pharmacy intern, Tarshay Boyd, has culled out the most important parts of an interview with Dr. Pollom for your review in our Laterpay feature.
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We can make a difference!
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Dave Joffe
Editor-in-chief
TOP STORIES — Diabetes News and Research
The future of measuring and controlling postprandial glucose using TIR (Time in Range).
Technology and unique rapid-acting insulin can improve time in range and Quality of Life for patients with diabetes.
How triple therapy can lead to optimal cardiovascular and renal protection.
Did You Know? What to do when metformin stops working for your patients:
It has been the standard therapy for newly diagnosed type 2 patients, and even for those with prediabetes, to prescribe metformin since it became available over 25 years ago. Before 1995 metformin and sulfonylureas were the only oral treatments for T2D for more than 50 years.
A recent clinical trial called DURATION-8 investigated a combination of two newer drugs, exenatide and dapagliflozin, in patients whose blood glucose levels did not respond to metformin. The results suggest that the combination was safe and continued to be more effective than either drug alone. In addition to stabilizing blood glucose levels, the drug combination was associated with lower blood pressure and body weight. The researchers report that the drug duo remained safe and effective two years (104 weeks) after treatment began.
After adjustments for other possible contributing factors, those who received both drugs saw the most significant average reduction in their glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels. Many therapies in diabetes management are short-lived, which is why this combination should be considered.
The researchers randomly assigned 695 adults with type 2 diabetes whose blood glucose was not adequately controlled by metformin to three treatment groups:
- a weekly injection of exenatide and a daily oral dose of dapagliflozin
- weekly exenatide and daily oral placebo
- a weekly placebo injection and daily oral dapagliflozin
In patients who took both drugs, there were also improvements in blood glucose levels after fasting and 2 hours after eating and reduced body weight and systolic blood pressure. There were no episodes of significant hypoglycemia and a few episodes of minor hypoglycemia. The authors conclude that the clinical benefits of taking both drugs were maintained for two years, with “no unexpected safety findings.”
Diabetes in Control gratefully acknowledges the assistance of the following pharmacy doctoral candidates in the preparation of this week’s newsletters:
Abdullah Al-Ajmi, PharmD Candidate, Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences
Tarshay Boyd, PharmD. Candidate, LECOM School of Pharmacy
Destiny Funchess, PharmD Candidate, Tougaloo College, South College School of Pharmacy
Melinda Rodriguez, PharmD Candidate 2021, Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine – L|E|C|O|M School of Pharmacy
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Steve and Dave
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