A new drug for people with a certain type of diabetes will treat the condition without some of the common side-effects of existing drugs, a pharmaceutical firm said today.
Merck Sharp & Dohme Ireland today launched its drug Januvia, which it said was the first new class of medicine for the treatment of type 2 diabetes in more than five years.
In this type of diabetes, the pancreas still produces some insulin, but not enough to meet the body's needs, or the insulin that is produced is not working very well.
The hormone insulin is vital to help the liver process glucose and fats. Diabetes, if untreated or improperly treated, can cause serious problems such as kidney disease and blindness and may result in the sufferer having limbs amputated.
It tends to occur in older people. According to Merck, about 85 to 90 per cent of all those with diabetes have type 2. The remainder have type I, where the pancreas completely stops producing insulin.
The once-a-day prescription drug, known as a DPP-4 inhibitor, enhances the body's own natural mechanisms to significantly lower blood sugar, the company claims.
"It also has a far lower incidence of the side effects commonly associated with some of the other existing therapies."
"DPP-4 inhibitors are an important breakthrough and offer an innovative approach to treating type 2 diabetes, a disease that is rapidly increasing in prevalence in Ireland and across the world," said Dr Graham Roberts, consultant endocrinologist, Waterford Regional Hospital.
"Almost two out of three adults being treated for type 2 diabetes are not reaching their target blood sugar levels, which can then lead to serious complications, such as heart disease, kidney problems and diabetes-related blindness.3 These complications can be completely avoided if the glucose is treated to correct target levels."
Dr Roberts said Januvia is "a welcome new treatment option which effectively lowers blood sugar when it is too high, without unwanted side effects such as low blood sugar and weight gain".
A survey by Ipsos MORI of 100 people with type 2 diabetes, published with Merck's announcement today, said nearly one in four people (24 per cent) surveyed felt their disease was not properly controlled.
One in six (16 per cent) said they found it difficult to live with their medication's side effects, with one in three (31 per cent) feeling their medication had made them gain weight when they were trying to lose it.
Just over a fifth (22 per cent) said that diabetes was taking over their life.
"In Ireland 200,000 adults have diabetes - enough to fill Croke Park more than twice over," said Anna Clarke, diabetes nurse specialist with the Diabetes Federation of Ireland.
"Many people can reduce their risk of developing type 2 diabetes by maintaining a healthy lifestyle. For those who have developed it, they need to take a proactive role in managing their condition in order to prevent associated complications which can heavily impact on their quality of life."