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New first-in-class treatment available for people with type 2 diabetes in Scotland

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rhall92380

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
http://www.drwf.org.uk/Information/...l&utm_campaign=DRWF+Newsletter+Jan+13+General

People with type 2 diabetes in Scotland have access to a new drug after physicians were given the go ahead by the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) to prescribe Forxiga (dapagliflozin).

The drug will be available for adults with type 2 diabetes for restricted use as dual therapy in combination with metformin, when metformin alone with diet and exercise does not provide adequate glycaemic control and a sulphonylurea is inappropriate.

People with type 2 diabetes who are not being managed on metformin alone will now have access to this effective new, oral once daily, first-in-class treatment.

Professor Naveed Sattar, Professor of Metabolic Medicine, University of Glasgow, said: ?Effective blood glucose control is essential in managing type 2 diabetes and lowering the risk of developing complications, in particular those that effect eyesight or kidney function but also heart disease and stroke. However, weight management is also important and weight reduction is recommended as a first step for managing the condition. Physicians are therefore interested to see how new therapies, such as dapagliflozin, can help patients achieve blood glucose targets with the secondary benefit of weight loss.?

Around 200,000 people in Scotland are currently living with type 2 diabetes, which is almost 4% of the entire population, and cases of type 2 diabetes are continuing to rise. This is in large part due to poor diet (specifically excess calorie intake) and low levels of physical activity. With more than 80% of people with type 2 diabetes in Scotland being overweight or obese, researchers have coined a new term, diabesity, to acknowledge that the two conditions often coexist.

Dapagliflozin is the first in a new class of treatments called sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors and developed from phlorizin, a naturally occurring sugar compound found in the bark of apple trees. It works by reducing the amount of glucose reabsorbed in the kidney. As a result, in people with type 2 diabetes, an increased amount of glucose is passed out of the body via the urine each day, along with the associated calories.

Unlike many other diabetes medications, dapagliflozin works in a way that is independent of insulin action and offers an alternative new approach for people with type 2 diabetes currently failing with their diet, exercise plan and are uncontrolled on their existing medication.

More information: http://tinyurl.com/abqwqmk
 
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