The United States approved a new combination drug for people with type 2 diabetes on Monday.
Janumet, the now Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved drug, contains a compound that helps to improve blood sugar control in adult patients suffering from the metabolic disorder. In addition to diet and exercise, the new drug works to lower elevated blood sugar and reduce the effects of the disease.
“Physicians use several different medications in combination to address the multiple defects associated with type 2 diabetes, however, less than half of patients achieve and maintain their goal levels,” said Nir Barzilai, M.D. and professor of Medicine and Molecular Genetics at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York.
“Janumet is an important new treatment option for many patients who need more than one therapy to control their type 2 diabetes because it addresses all three key defects of [the disease] for improved glycemic control,” Dr Barzilai added.
The disease is rapidly increasing in the developed world. Nearly 21 million people in the US – 7% of the population – have diabetes, with 90-95% of cases being type 2.
GCC countries are among the worst in the world for diabetes. According to The International Diabetes Federation in 2003, the top five countries with the highest percentage of adults with the disease were: Nauru (30.2%), United Arab Emirates (20.1%), Qatar (16%), Bahrain (14.9%), and Kuwait (12.8%).
Factors behind the disorder are obesity and genetic predisposition, both rife in the Middle East.
Last month,
health ministry officials met in Kuwait
to discuss the diabetes pandemic sweeping the region, and to come up with a plan to tackle the disorder.
Patients with type 2 diabetes have elevated blood sugar and insulin resistance, meaning their body does not respond appropriately when the carbohydrate-matabolising hormone is present.
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