The most prominent clinical manifestation of type 2 diabetes is elevated blood glucose, which can lead to a variety of acute and chronic complications. Dietary therapy is an important part of type 2 diabetes treatment, while medication to control blood glucose is the mainstay of treatment. Dietary therapy alone is ineffective, and precise medication is recommended based on blood glucose levels.
The pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes is a disease with inadequate insulin secretion and insulin resistance, which in turn leads to elevated blood glucose as the main clinical manifestation. The long-term elevation of blood glucose can lead to complications in the heart, brain, blood vessels, kidneys, and eye fundus. The five therapeutic tools of diabetes treatment: health education, exercise therapy, monitoring blood glucose, medication, and insulin therapy.
Medication is the mainstay of diabetes treatment. The main therapeutic drugs include insulin, sulfonylurea agonists, metformin, alpha-glucosidase inhibitors, thiazolidinedione derivative agonists, insulin agonists, GLP-1 agonists, and DPP-4 enzyme inhibitors. Each drug has a different mechanism for lowering glucose, and patients are advised to choose their medications under the guidance of a specialist.
Dietary therapy is also an important part of diabetes treatment. The principles of dietary therapy are small amounts and seven portions, low sugar and low fat, and poor results with diet alone.
In summary, medication is recommended for patients with type 2 diabetes under the guidance of a physician, and diet is only an adjunctive therapy.