title: Newer oral and noninsulin therapies to treat type 2 diabetes mellitus.
abstract: The pathophysiology of type 2 diabetes mellitus involves several biologic mechanisms and no single medication addresses them all. Most patients require more than one medication to adequately treat their diabetes, needing drugs with unique and complementary mechanisms of action to address and balance insulin and glucagon levels. In the past decade, several therapeutic drug classes have been developed for type 2 diabetes mellitus. Each provides therapeutic options with novel mechanisms of action to help clinicians achieve the goal of glucose homeostasis while controlling adverse events, especially reducing the risk of hypoglycemia.
authors.affiliation: Professor of Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA. E-mail: hermayer@musc.edu.|Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center, Charleston, SC, USA.
authors.forename: Kathie L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Hermayer
authors.affiliation: Fellow in Endocrinology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA.
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dake
mesh_terms: D000284:Administration, Oral; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000187:drug effects; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007003:Hypoglycemia / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D007004:Hypoglycemic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*
chemical_list: D001786:Blood Glucose; D007004:Hypoglycemic Agents