Diabetes Management by Pharmaceutical Approach

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is one of the metabolic disorder which is generally referred to as Diabetes. In which there is increase in blood sugar level over a prolonged period. Diabetes is due to either the disability of the pancreas to produce enough insulin or the cells of the body not responding properly to the insulin produced. There are three main types of diabetes mellitus.

·         Type 1 DM -  failure of the pancreas to produce enough insulin. This type of DM is previously referred to as "insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus" (IDDM) or "juvenile diabetes".

·         Type 2 DM –  It is a condition of the cells where they fail to respond to the insulin properly. This form was previously referred to as "non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus" (NIDDM) or "adult-onset diabetes".

·         Gestational diabetes – It occurs when pregnant women without a previous history of diabetes develop high blood sugar levels.

Diabetes management aims to restore carbohydrate metabolism to a normal state. The treatment goals include effective control of blood glucose, blood pressure and lipids and to lower the risk of long-term consequences related with diabetes. 

Diabetes Pharmacy aims at minimizing the chronic diabetic complications and to avoid acute problems of hyperglycemia or hypoglycemia. Adequate control of diabetes leads to lower risk of complications associated with unmonitored diabetes including kidney failure, blindness, heart disease and limb amputation. Prevention includes maintaining a healthy diet, regular physical exercise, a normal body weight, and avoiding use of tobacco and alcohol. Risk of Diabetes Mellitus can only be controlled by lowering the blood sugar levels.

Anti-diabetic medications which are available in the market where some can be consumed by mouth, such as metformin, while others are only available by injection such as GLP-1 agonists. Type 1 diabetes can only be treated with insulin, typically with a combination of regular and NPH insulin, or synthetic insulin analogs. Type II diabetes ca be controlled by Insulin sensitizers which address the core problem. Biguanides, Thiazolidinediones, Lyn Kinase Activators etc. are the Insulin Sensitizers used. Lifestyle, daily routine also affects blood sugar level. Maintaining the Healthy diet, Daily Exercise and proper intake of Medications can help in reducing the risk of Diabetes.