Hi. I'm Dr Anne Peters, and today I'm going to discuss using sodium/glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors in people with type 1 diabetes.
First off, let me say that managing type 1 diabetes is difficult for both the provider and for the patient because it is so variable. People with type 1 diabetes have blood sugars that go up and down. Often, patients themselves can't really predict what is going to happen. They may feel they do the same thing and eat the same thing, yet their blood sugars are like a sine wave, up and down all the time.
The SGLT2 inhibitor class is a class of drugs designed for treating people with type 2 diabetes, but they work in people with type 1 diabetes because they work in a beta-cell–independent way. They basically make individuals urinate out more glucose, which made experts believe these drugs would also be effective in people with type 1 diabetes.
From the beginning, I've used SGLT2 inhibitors—off-label—in my patients with type 1 diabetes, and I really saw a benefit. Where my patients' blood sugar used to be up and down and up and down, it became much smoother. The variation became less, and patients were able to reduce their insulin.
Pediatric Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus
COMMENTARY
Minimizing DKA Risk With SGLT2 Inhibitors in Type 1 Diabetes
Anne L. Peters, MD
DisclosuresOctober 28, 2015
Hi. I'm Dr Anne Peters, and today I'm going to discuss using sodium/glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors in people with type 1 diabetes.
First off, let me say that managing type 1 diabetes is difficult for both the provider and for the patient because it is so variable. People with type 1 diabetes have blood sugars that go up and down. Often, patients themselves can't really predict what is going to happen. They may feel they do the same thing and eat the same thing, yet their blood sugars are like a sine wave, up and down all the time.
The SGLT2 inhibitor class is a class of drugs designed for treating people with type 2 diabetes, but they work in people with type 1 diabetes because they work in a beta-cell–independent way. They basically make individuals urinate out more glucose, which made experts believe these drugs would also be effective in people with type 1 diabetes.
From the beginning, I've used SGLT2 inhibitors—off-label—in my patients with type 1 diabetes, and I really saw a benefit. Where my patients' blood sugar used to be up and down and up and down, it became much smoother. The variation became less, and patients were able to reduce their insulin.
Medscape Diabetes © 2015 WebMD, LLC
Any views expressed above are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the views of WebMD or Medscape.
Cite this: Anne L. Peters. Minimizing DKA Risk With SGLT2 Inhibitors in Type 1 Diabetes - Medscape - Oct 28, 2015.
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Authors and Disclosures
Authors and Disclosures
Author(s)
Anne L. Peters, MD
Professor of Clinical Medicine; Director, Clinical Diabetes Programs, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California
Disclosure: Anne L. Peters, MD, has disclosed the following financial relationships:
Served as director, officer, partner, employee, advisor, consultant, or trustee for: (current consultant): Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Eli Lilly and Company; Novo Nordisk
Served as a speaker or member of a speaker's bureau for: (current speakers bureau member): Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Eli Lilly and Company; Novo Nordisk; Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America, Inc.
Served as a consultant or ad hoc speaker/consultant for: AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP; Abbott Laboratories; Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Bristol-Myers Squibb Company; Dexcom; Medtronic MiniMed, Inc.; Merck & Co., Inc.; Roche; sanofi-aventis