Acarbose: Pharmacist reminds to pay more attention on 4 points

Acarbose: Pharmacist reminds to pay more attention on 4 points.  Speaking of acarbose, people with diabetes are very familiar with it, but at first hearing the name, they were all surprised. It is sugar itself, how can it lower blood sugar? That’s right, Acarbose can reduce blood sugar with sugar!

Acarbose is an oral hypoglycemic agent commonly used in clinical treatment of type 2 diabetes. It belongs to α-glucosidase inhibitors. Such hypoglycemic agents include voglibose, miglitol, etc., which can be used in the intestinal tract. Inhibit the absorption of sugar, thereby reducing blood sugar after meals! The mechanism is to slow down the decomposition of starch and other polysaccharides into sucrose (a disaccharide) and glucose (a monosaccharide) by competitively inhibiting the activity of α-glucosidase (a disaccharide hydrolase), thereby delaying monosaccharides Sugar absorption.

Why is it said that Acarbose is most suitable for Asia people’s “appetite”?

Acarbose is suitable for patients with elevated blood sugar after a meal, without gaining weight, the risk of hypoglycemia is relatively low, and there is a tendency to lose weight. Acarbose is very suitable for Chinese and Asian people. This is because the diet of Chinese and Asian people is mainly carbohydrates (European and American countries use beef, burgers and pizza as the main food), which can be higher after oral administration of acarbose. The effect of inhibiting the decomposition and absorption of starch is very conducive to blood sugar control.

Taking acarbose is very particular. If you don’t pay attention to some things, it may be a waste of food. Today, the author will give you 4 precautions that should be paid attention to when taking acarbose in popular science.

Pharmacist reminds: Ignore these 4 points, Acarbose is nothing

1) Pay attention to the way of taking

When taking medicines, you should choose the most appropriate time for taking medicines. Most drugs are basically taken before or after meals, but taking before or after meals does not apply to acarbose. Acarbose should be swallowed as a whole tablet (tablet) during the meal, that is, taken with the first mouthful of meal. If the interval between taking the medicine and the meal is too long, the effect will be poor or even ineffective.

2) Pay attention to the dosage

The starting dose of acarbose is 50 mg once a day, 3 times a day, and then gradually increased to 0.1 g once a day, 3 times a day. In individual cases, it can be increased to 0.2 grams each time, 3 times a day. If the patient is not effective after taking the medicine for 4 to 8 weeks, the dose can be increased. If the patient adheres to a strict diabetic diet and is still uncomfortable, the dose cannot be increased, and sometimes the dose needs to be appropriately reduced. The average dose is 0.1 grams once, 3 times a day.

3) Be careful when combined with other hypoglycemic drugs

Acarbose itself does not cause hypoglycemia. If it is used in combination with sulfonylureas (such as gliclazide), biguanides (such as metformin) or insulin, blood sugar will drop and even lead to hypoglycemia, so combined use It is necessary to reduce the dose of these hypoglycemic drugs.

Note that when the symptoms of hypoglycemia occur when taking acarbose, you must directly supplement glucose instead of sucrose, because the absorption of sucrose will be inhibited by acarbose, which can solve the hypoglycemic crisis.

4) Must eat staple food

Since acarbose only acts on carbohydrates, diabetic patients taking acarbose must eat staple foods rich in carbohydrates (rice, steamed bread, flatbread, noodles or other cereals and potato products). If a diabetic patient only eats vegetables and meat when eating, for example, meat is mainly fat and protein, but not the staple food, then taking acarbose will not have any hypoglycemic effect, so this meal is not necessary. Acarbose, because even after taking acarbose, blood sugar after a meal cannot be controlled.

Conclusion

In short, acarbose is a hypoglycemic drug that is very suitable for the eating habits of Chinese people, but we should also pay attention to the above 4 points. At the same time, we need to pay attention to whether there are any contraindications, such as pregnant women and lactating women. The usage of other α-glycosidase inhibitors (such as voglibose, miglitol, etc.) has more similarities with acarbose.

(source:internet, reference only)

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