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Vital Signs

New “Two-in-One” Diabetes Drug Works Twice as Hard

“It Takes Two” is the title of a song that was a big hit for the dynamic duo of Marvin Gaye and Tammy Terrell back in the Sixties. It’s also the concept behind an exciting new advance in the treatment of type 2 diabetes, a disease that has reached epidemic proportions in the U.S. and affects people of African American, Hispanic, American Indian, Asian and Pacific Islander descent much more acutely than whites.

In October 2002 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved GlaxoSmithKline’s AvandametTM, a medication that combines two leading diabetes drugs--rosiglitazone maleate and metformin HC1--in a single pill. What’s particularly unique--and effective--about this double-edged approach to diabetes control is that it not only treats the symptoms of the disease but also addresses its root cause.
“The combination of rosiglitazone and metformin provides two different, yet complementary, mechanisms of action to manage diabetes,” explains Barry Goldstein, MD, PhD, director of the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. “Rosiglitazone targets insulin resistance, an underlying cause of type 2 diabetes, while metformin works to reduce the amount of blood sugar produced by the liver. The two medications, when used in combination, target core metabolic defects to help achieve better blood sugar control than metformin alone.”

The “two drugs in one pill” format is also designed to improve patient compliance by making combination-therapy diabetes medications more convenient to take.

For more information about Avandamet, call (888) 825-5249 toll-free. You can also learn more about this new treatment online at www.avandamet.com.