Drugs are prescribed to people with diabetes for a variety of reasons. These include the following:
- To keep blood sugar levels from rising too high
- To minimize the risk of low blood sugars or hypoglycemia
- To promote weight loss or prevent weight gain
- To reduce the risk of serious health problems in the future that can affect the eye, kidney, heart, brain, and liver,
- by lowering blood pressure, cholesterol, and weight, and
- by slowing or stopping some of the processes that damage other organs.
The benefits of many drugs that are used to treat diabetes are based on well-designed and reliable research studies that included many people with diabetes around the world. These studies showed whether the drugs work, how well they work, what their side effects are, They truly revolutionized the way that people with diabetes are treated.
But no matter how good the studies are, they can only show what the drugs do on average in the average person. They cannot predict what will happen to any one individual.
For example, research may show that a drug lowers blood sugar levels by 20% and cause a little bit of constipation. That’s what happens in the average patient. And we know that it takes many different sorts of people to make an average. That means that in a few people it might actually raise blood sugars, and in others it might cause diarrhea. Most importantly, there is usually no way to really know how any one person will respond without a trial of therapy.
The main message here is that we are all unique and differ in how we respond to drugs. Although most people will benefit from drugs proven to be beneficial, this will never be true for everybody. It is therefore always important to have open and frank discussions with any healthcare provider regarding the pros and cons of any drug.
About the author
Hertzel Gerstein
Hertzel is an endocrinologist and professor at McMaster University who is in high demand as a speaker, advocate, and educator on diabetes-related topics. His research focuses on using large, international randomized trials to identify and test new ways of preventing type 2 diabetes, reducing serious health outcomes like strokes and death, and achieving type 2 diabetes remissions.
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