The Older, Cheaper Diabetic Drugs Are Just As Effective As New

True Blue… That is what they are saying about the older, cheaper diabetic drugs. As if the newer, more expensive, highly debatable drugs needed anymore “bad type” press. This could hurt sales for such drugs as Avandia even further.

The clear winner: metformin, sold as Glucophage and generically for about $100 a year. It works as well as other diabetes pills but does not cause weight gain or too-low blood sugar, the analysis found. It also lowers LDL or bad cholesterol. Consumer Reports also published a guide of the results. Besides metformin, it rates glipizide and glimepiride, sold as Amaryl and Glucotrol, as best bets.

This is clearly great news for the many diabetic sufferers that struggle at the pharmacy counter. A much cheaper alternative that still has positive effects in the treatment of diabetes is both welcomed and coveted!

via Delaware Online