The world of diabetes drugs has advanced a lot. This is what is important to know about it - voila! Put your finger on the pulse

"In recent years, new and promising treatments have been added for diabetes patients" (Photo: ShutterStock)

Diabetes is a very complex disease, which includes much more than high blood sugar levels.

In the health world, diabetes is treated from several aspects - from an eye exam to the condition of the feet, cholesterol and protein in the urine.

The view of the disease is broad and systemic, as is the treatment offered to people living with diabetes.

"When a person with diabetes comes to me, I consider many aspects - the drug treatment for sugar, the assessment of balance through sugar measurements and laboratory tests, the patient's lifestyle and periodic tests," explains Dr. Orit Toito, an expert in internal medicine and endocrinology and director of the endocrinology unit at the Wolfson Medical Center , "There is also a reference to lifestyle, diet, physical activity, smoking cessation and the like.

There is a very broad view of the patient here."

Dr. Toito explains that "endocrinology is a broad profession that deals with all kinds of fields related to hormones and metabolism", and therefore according to her, her and her colleagues' treatment of diabetic patients varies from patient to patient, since each person is made the right therapeutic envelope for him.

Which diabetics should see an endocrinologist?

In this context, it is important to clarify that there are many diabetic patients, and not all of them are treated by an endocrinologist.

"The number of diabetics in the population is very large, and most of them are treated by family doctors," Dr. Toito explained, "it depends on the balance of the diabetes, the amount of medication, the types of medication, and also on the question of what type of diabetes it is - type 1 diabetes patients will always be treated by endocrinologists or diabetes specialists due to the complexity of the disease and treatment.

Type 2 diabetes patients are often treated by family doctors.

The more complex cases come to us, the endocrinologists, such as patients with underlying diseases, or those who need more drugs or medical technologies."

Dr. Toito wanted to emphasize that "there are currently many treatment options, many types of insulin with different characteristics, and also many technologies for measuring sugar.

It is important to know that there are various treatment options, and even if one option did not work, you should not give up and despair.

This is exactly the place to consult an endocrinologist who will adjust a personal treatment suit."

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In collaboration with Sanofi

"A revolution in the world of diabetes"

Dr. Toito explained that in recent years, new and promising treatments for diabetes patients have been added. "There are two new groups of drugs that have been developed in the last decade, which have really made a revolution in the world of diabetes," she explained, "One group is the drugs that are used for diabetes and for weight loss, and they are given by injection, And their big bonus is that beyond the fact that they lower sugar nicely, they help with weight loss, and we use them in many patients.

The second group is given in pills and causes the loss of sugar through the urinary system.

These drugs have many beneficial effects - they lower sugar and blood pressure, help with weight loss, and also protect the heart and kidneys."

Apart from these two drug families, there is also insulin - although it is not a new drug, in fact it has been around for 100 years, it is considered an effective and safe treatment that does not stop developing.

"Over the years, insulin becomes more convenient to use and with fewer side effects. Since we have a wide variety of insulins with different effects, we can adapt the insulin to the patient and his needs," said Dr. Toito, "so there are many options to help diabetics" In addition, not only the medicines change, but also the means of monitoring the sugar. "The possibility of measuring sugar has existed for many years, but today there are continuous measuring devices, which save the patient from stabbing and also give us a lot of information," she added.

In light of all these developments, Dr. Twito wanted to emphasize that "it is important that every diabetic patient, once in a while, even if he is balanced, meet his family doctor or a diabetes specialist, to make sure that his treatment is current and optimal.

You should actively ask what is new and what has changed, should I change my medications?

Are there any new tests I should do?". Dr. Twito added: "The world of diabetes treatment is changing at a very fast pace, and it is not always worth continuing to take the same drugs that were prescribed to you many years ago. It is very worthwhile to go for a periodic review, consult and refresh yourself."

In collaboration with Sanofi

• Put your finger on the pulse

Tags

• diabetes mellitus

• insulin