BYETTA New Adjunctive Therapy to Improve Blood Sugar

May 26, 2005

FYI: New Drug Alert

This is important information for persons with pancreatitis who are showing

early signs of poor blood sugar control, and are not yet requiring insulin. I

have learned that the most empowered patient is one who continues to seek out

new knowledge and treatment options. I find that many practitioners tend to

keep with " old and tried ways. " Too many doctors are conditioned to the fact

that diabetes is a progressive disease and eventually all patients will need

to be on insulin. Others wonder what's the point of giving Byetta vs insulin,

they are both injections.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved BYETTA

(exenatide) injection as adjunctive therapy to improve blood sugar control in

patients with type 2 diabetes who have not achieved adequate control on

metformin

and/or a sulfonylurea, two common oral diabetes medications. BYETTA (pronounced

bye-A-tuh), the trade name for exenatide, is the first in a new class of

medicines known as incretin mimetics. BYETTA will be available to pharmacies by

June 1, 2005.

BYETTA improves blood sugar control by lowering both postmeal and fasting

glucose levels leading to better long-term control as measured by hemoglobin

A1C. BYETTA does this through several actions, including the stimulation of

insulin secretion only when blood sugar is high and by restoring the first-

phase insulin response, an activity of the insulin-producing cells in the

pancreas that is lost in patients who have type 2 diabetes. Most patients in the

long-term BYETTA clinical studies also experienced reductions in weight.

For more information check out:

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Karyn E. , RN

Executive Director, PAI

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