Management of Hypoglycemia in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes

Abstract

Hypoglycemia is the rate-limiting step of intensive management in patients with diabetes. Lowering one’s A1C to a prescribed target is expected to mitigate one’s risk of developing longand short-term diabetes-related complications. Several of the less expensive and commonly prescribed glucose lowering agents favored by practitioners result in weight gain, hypoglycemia, and even an increased risk of cardiovascular (CV) mortality. Although achieving a targeted A1C of <7 % is the standard of care, clinicians often fail to evaluate patients for glycemic variability which can increase oxidative stress driving long-term diabetesrelated complications including CV death. The use of concentrated insulins and glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists separately or in combination with each other reduces glycemic variability and one’s risk of hypoglycemia. Pharmaceutical agents which allow patients to safely achieve their targeted A1C without weight gain and hypoglycemia should be preferred in patients with type 2 diabetes.