ALMOST 6 percent of the world’s adult population has diabetes, and recent studies have shown that it could increase from 230 million today to 350 million in less than 20 years.

There are two main types of diabetes: type 1 and type 2. People with type 1 diabetes do not usually produce insulin. People with type 2 diabetes do not produce enough insulin or cannot use it properly. Around 90 percent of all diabetes patients worldwide have type 2 diabetes.

“It used to be that only adults have type 2 diabetes. But now, younger patients get diagnosed with this particular diabetes,” said Dr. Araveli Panelo, executive director of the UERM Institute for Studies on Diabetes Foundation, during a press conference hosted by pharmaceutical company Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD).

The usual symptoms of diabetes include increased thirst, weight loss, increased hunger, dry mouth, nausea, frequent urination and blurred vision.

Dr. Panelo added that various complications attributable to diabetes—which include coronary heart disease, kidney failure, diabetic foot disease, nerve damage, stroke, hypertension and depression—and diabetes morbidity and mortality are expected to rise if the disease is not managed or treated.

“We are happy that new advances in the management of type 2 diabetes are continuously being developed to bring hope to patients and their families,” said Dr. Panelo. MSD has launched Janumet, a drug combination of sitaglipitin and metformin.

“The recent approval of sitaglipitin, in combination with metformin, is an exciting new option that can effectively lower blood-sugar levels with fewer unwanted side effects often associated with existing medicines,” says Dr. Dr. Sjoberg Kho, an endocrinologist and consultant at the University of Santo Tomas Hospital.

Those side effects include hypoglycemia (very low blood sugar) and weight gain. In a large controlled trial, patients taking sitaglipitin, plus metformin lost weight compared with patients taking glipizide, plus metformin who gained weight.

Sitaglipitin is a dipeptyl peptidase-4 (DOO-4) inhibitor, which works by enhancing the body’s own ability to lower blood sugar. 

The combination of sitaglipitin and metformin takes on a comprehensive approach to diabetes treatment, combining the modes of action of two effective therapies—the incretin action enhancement provided by the DPP-4 inhibitor and the improved glucose utilization due to metformin.

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ALMOST 6 percent of the world’s adult population has diabetes, and recent studies have shown that it could increase from 230 million today to 350 million in less than 20 years.