Diabetes Care | Care of People with Metabolic Problems: Diabetes | Oral Hypoglycaemics

Oral hypoglycaemics
Session overview
Description
This session provides an overview of oral hypoglycaemic agents, their indications, cautions and the clinical guidelines governing their use.

Learning objectives
By the end of this session you will be able to:

• describe the differences between the types of oral hypoglycaemics available and their mechanisms of action
• explain the indications of the various oral hypoglycaemics (OHGs) and cautions around their use
• discuss the NICE guidance and be able to compare it to the American Diabetes Association and the European Association for the Study of Diabetes guidelines
• advise on medication use during intercurrent illness

Type 2 diabetes is a long-term metabolic condition characterised by insulin resistance, resulting in hyperglycaemia and associated with a reduction in pancreatic insulin production over time. Treatment is aimed at effectively controlling blood glucose and maintenance of glycated haemoglobin(read a full definition of this term) (HbA1c) at or below the target value set for each individual patient(read a full definition of this term), to minimise the risk of long-term microvascular and macrovascular complications [1](read details regarding the reference).

Lifestyle interventions such as weight loss, smoking cessation and regular exercise can help to reduce hyperglycaemia and reduce cardiovascular risk and encouraged at every opportunity. Hypoglycaemic medications should be prescribed to augment lifestyle interventions, when these changes are not adequate to control blood-glucose alone.

This session provides an overview of oral hypoglycaemic agents, their indications, cautions and the clinical guidelines governing their use. It can be found in people with obesity and sedentary lifestyles and can be complicated by hypertension, dyslipidaemia and increases cardiovascular risk.