Medicines to manage kidney disease (part 01)

 

Medicines to manage kidney disease.

 There is no specific medicine to treat kidney disease, but doctors believe that

 managing or preventing health problems can stop kidney damage from getting

 worse. Accordingly, to manage the health problems that are the causes of

 kidney disease, we need to take proper medicines with precautions.

         Diabetes and kidney disease.

      The most common cause of kidney disease is diabetes. It is the number one

cause of kidney failure. The danger here is that if diabetes is not properly

managed, the kidneys will fail and you will have to resort to dialysis or a

kidney transplant. Therefore, it is important to know medications that manage

diabetes properly. In a diabetic patient, insulin is not used properly. Because of

that, too much sugar stays in the blood. Over time, high blood sugar can

damage the small blood vessels in the kidneys and lead to kidney disease.

Moreover, diabetes also damages the nerves of the body. Nerves in the bladder

normally sense the need to urinate when the bladder is full. But if the nerves are

damaged, they need to urinate is not felt. Because of this, urine remains in the

bladder for a long time, causing kidney Damage.

        There are many types of diabetes drugs, but let's study some of them.

                      ·        Insulin

The pancreas produces beta cells that produce the hormone insulin.

Accordingly, Insulin is a hormone that helps regulate blood sugar. They are

available as several different medications and some insulins work

throughout the day while others only work for a few hours. Type 1 diabetes

destroys the beta cells of the pancreas so the body cannot produce insulin.

For this reason, insulin is prescribed for people with type 1 diabetes. People

with type 2 diabetes produce insulin, but their bodies do not respond well to

it. Some people with type 2 diabetes may take pills or insulin injections to

help their body use glucose for energy. We will present a long review of

insulin in future articles.

                      ·        Metformin

Metformin inhibits the production of glucose by the liver and improves

the body's sensitivity to insulin. Metformin is usually used as a first-line

treatment for type 2 diabetes and may occasionally be prescribed in

combination with insulin for people with type 1 diabetes.

                      ·        Sulphonylureas

Sulphonylureas are a class of antidiabetic drugs for type 2 diabetes.

 Drugs belonging to the group of sulfonylureas include Glibenclamide (Daonil),

Glipizide (Glucotrol), Gliquidone (Glurenorm), Glyclopyramide (Deamelin-S),

Glimepiride (Amaryl) and Gliclazide (Diamicron). Sulfonylureas work by

increasing the amount of insulin produced by the pancreas and increasing the

effectiveness of insulin. Hypoglycemia and weight gain are side effects of this

drug.

                      ·        Meglitinides / Prandial glucose regulator / Glinides

Glinides are a class of drugs that act for a short time. Meglitinide is

usually prescribed to type 2 diabetes patients half an hour before meals. Since

these drugs act for a short time, there is a small chance of side effects of

hypoglycemia and weight gain.

Eg:

     Repaglinide (Prandin)

     Nateglinide (Starlix)

     

                    ·        Alpha-glucosidase inhibitors

    Alpha-glucosidase inhibitors are drugs for type 2 diabetes that slow the

digestion of carbohydrates in the small intestine and help lower blood sugar

levels after meals .  

                   ·        Thiazolidinedione / Glitazones

            Thiazolidinediones are medications for type 2 diabetes that help improve

 insulin sensitivity and lower triglyceride levels. However, researchers believe

that the most popular prescription drug in this class, rosiglitazone (Avandia),

causes heart attacks and pioglitazone (Actos) causes bladder cancer. But they

are still in the research stage. 

                   ·        DPP-4 inhibitors / Gliptins

DPP-4 inhibitors, a class of drugs known as gliptins, stimulate insulin

 production and specifically reduce the production of glucagon during digestion.

DPP-4 inhibitors are usually prescribed for people with type 2 diabetes who

have not responded well to drugs such as metformin and sulfonylureas.

Eg:

           §  Linagliptin (Tradjenta)

           §  Saxagliptin (Onglyza)

             §  Sitagliptin (Januvia)

             §  Vildagliptin (Galvus)

                    

                      ·        Incretin mimetics / GLP-1 analogues

         An injectable treatment for type 2 diabetes is called incretin mimetics, or

 GLP-1 analogs. Incretin mimetics mimic the effects of a group of hormones

called incretins, which increase insulin production and decrease glucagon

release. GLP-1 analogs also improve blood glucose levels and help with weight

loss.

Eg:

        ·        Dulaglutide (Trulicity)

        ·        Exenatide (Byetta)

          ·        Liraglutide (Victoza)

          ·        Lixisenatide (Lyxumia)

         

               ·        Amylin analogs

        Amylin is a hormone produced by the pancreas that is released at the same

time as insulin but in much smaller amounts. Amylin helps suppress the release

of glucagon. Therefore, it lowers the blood glucose level after eating. In

countries like the United States, it is available as an injectable drug to treat

type 1 and type 2 diabetes, but using amylin with insulin increases the risk of

hypoglycemia.

            It is a fact that we know that many other health problems cause kidney

disease, not just diabetes, and that has been presented in previous articles.

Accordingly, expect a long description of medicines taken for each of those

health problems in future articles.