Injectable Medication for Diabetes

Diabetes is a disease that requires medication, either oral or injectable, to control. There are several medications that patients can inject to control this disease.

Insulin

• The most common injectable medication for controlling diabetes is insulin. Patients inject themselves with insulin several times a day, corresponding to blood-sugar levels, in order to maintain a normal level of blood glucose.

Pramlintide

• Pramlintide is another injectable medication diabetics use to control their disease. Pramlintide is a synthetic form of the hormone amylin, which works in conjunction with insulin and glucagons to control blood sugar.

Exenatide

• Exenatide is a new medication aimed at decreasing blood glucose by stimulating the production of natural insulin in the body. It only works when high blood sugar is present, reducing the chances of a patient experiencing hypoglycemia to almost none.

Oral Medications

• Other medications aimed at controlling diabetes are available, but are only available for oral administration at this time.

Warnings

• Proper administration of both oral and injectable medications is paramount to controlling this disease, for which there is no cure. All of these injectable medications carry some risk of side effects; the risk to patient health is much higher if the medications are not used or are used improperly.