Rhona Johnston, Olalekan Uthman, Ewen Cummins, Christine Clar, Pamela Royle, Jill Colquitt, Bee Kang Tan, Andrew Clegg, Saran Shantikumar, Rachel Court, J Paul O'Hare, David McGrane, Tim Holt, Norman Waugh
BACKGROUND: Most people with type 2 diabetes are overweight, so initial treatment is aimed at reducing weight and increasing physical activity. Even modest weight loss can improve control of blood glucose. If drug treatment is necessary, the drug of first choice is metformin. However, some people cannot tolerate metformin, which causes diarrhoea in about 10%, and it cannot be used in people with renal impairment. This review appraises three of the newest class of drugs for monotherapy when metformin cannot be used, the sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors...
January 2017: Health Technology Assessment: HTA