The Polypill is back !

[Burylancs]

Tests have been completed on a Polypill. The Polypill was often a joke - a gobstopper with every type of medication the over fifties might need. Now researchers have tested one out with four elements - statin ( of course), aspirin and two blood pressure drugs. It’s reduced heart attack by 53% and strokes by 51%. Diabetics naturally are recommended as one of the groups that should have it. But wait a minute rival research suggests a blood pressure mix that contains 4 ant- hypertensives is even better.
It's just a surprise that metformin isn’t in the new Polypill, it was in theoretical versions ten years ago when every over fifty was recommended to have it whether or not diabetic.
I suppose it might be convenient if one pill replaced three or four.

 

[ColinUK]

I guess the next stage will be bespoke combinations covering an individuals medication. And with some time released so it’s one pill a day for the whole lot.

You can already buy bespoke combo one pill things but it’s got a very limited range of drugs to include in the pill at the moment.

 

[ianf0ster]

Better still to replace pills through deprescribing because a suitable diet has reduced the need for all those pills!

 

[ColinUK]

Better still to replace pills through deprescribing because a suitable diet has reduced the need for all those pills!

That’s true for some but not everyone can stick with the dietary changes needed to avoid medication.

 

[Burylancs]

That’s true for some but not everyone can stick with the dietary changes needed to avoid medication.

T2s shouldn't be running their affairs in an attempt to avoid medication. T2 affects all the systems of the body and T2s should come out at it with all guns blazing - their diabetes will tell them what they need at each stage. In general the average T2 well into their 'journey' can expect Metformin, a sulfonylurea (gliclazide), a statin, a couple of blood pressure tablets and an Ace inhibitor ( a -pril). We are supposed to walk up through that sequence as laid out in NIHCE, until the bean-counters finally relent and allow us to have insulin ( usually too late and after damage has been done). These Newbies who think they have cracked it, simply don't know where they are headed.

 

[trophywench]

Nobody ever tells anyone that there is a cure for diabetes, though it is possible sometimes to send it into remission.

Not just people with D, but every single person on earth is in the same position - because nobody EVER knows or has ever known, what health problems may occur in the future. We each just have to cross each bridge as we come to it, as safely as we can at the time. Bit like walking out of the front door and crossing the road !

 

[AndBreathe]

T2s shouldn't be running their affairs in an attempt to avoid medication. T2 affects all the systems of the body and T2s should come out at it with all guns blazing - their diabetes will tell them what they need at each stage. In general the average T2 well into their 'journey' can expect Metformin, a sulfonylurea (gliclazide), a statin, a couple of blood pressure tablets and an Ace inhibitor ( a -pril). We are supposed to walk up through that sequence as laid out in NIHCE, until the bean-counters finally relent and allow us to have insulin ( usually too late and after damage has been done). These Newbies who think they have cracked it, simply don't know where they are headed.

So, at almost 8 years from diagnosis, with no diabetes medications, ever, medical records showing "Diabetes Resolved" since Nov 2014.

Where am I going wrong? What awaits me?

Who would it not be credible to aim for better health, if that is achievable for any given individual. I grant that not everyone can go meds free, but lets not average out to the lowest common denominator, surely?

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

I guess the next stage will be bespoke combinations covering an individuals medication. And with some time released so it’s one pill a day for the whole lot.

You can already buy bespoke combo one pill things but it’s got a very limited range of drugs to include in the pill at the moment.

I think that’s one of the snags with the combo approach - just like members who arrive struggling with mixed insulins who are encouraged to switch to multiple daily injections because then they can adjust the different components as they are needed.

Plus of course, some people have problems with one type of a medication, but not others, so the potential requirement for combo-pill variations rises exponentially 😱

I guess the thinking must be that an ‘average’ punter would be able to have the polypill, and others would need a more tailored approach.

It’s also interesting that T2 is no longer considered to be inevitably progressive in all cases, and studies like DIRECT are making interesting discoveries about some of the processes that drive some forms of T2 and what can put it into remission.