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December 2005

New Drug for Type 2 Diabetes

FDA approves a twice-a-day injectable medication for better blood sugar control

If you have type 2 diabetes but haven’t been able to control your blood sugar with other commonly used drugs, we have good news: It’s called exenatide, a twice-a-day injectable medication.

“Researchers discovered that people with type 2 diabetes lack the hormone GLP-1, which helps regulate blood sugar levels,” says Larry Merkle, M.D., Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network endrocrinologist. Exenatide replaces that hormone.” The drug helps your body produce the right amount of insulin when you need it, which helps to reduce blood sugar closer to normal levels.

“Exenatide works well if you still make some of your own insulin and don’t have either eye or kidney problems because of your diabetes,” Merkle says. “The earlier it’s used in people with type 2 diabetes, the better it works.” To learn if this treatment is right for you, talk with your doctor.

This page last updated 2/12/08 04:08 PM
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Lehigh Valley Hospital has campuses in Allentown and Bethlehem, Pa. and serves the Pennsylvania communities of Easton, Doylestown, Quakertown, Hazelton, Lehighton, Perkasie, Pottstown, Pottsville, Reading, Scranton, Wilkes Barre, Stroudsburg, and the Poconos and also Phillipsburg and Flemington, N.J., and western New Jersey. You don't have to travel to Philadelphia or New York for quality health care.

 
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