Efficacy and safety of insulin glargine combined with acarbose in the treatment of elder patients with type 2 diabetes

Objective:To observe the effect of blood glucose control and the incidence of hypoglycemia after treatment with insulin glargine combined with the oral antidiabetic drug acarbose in elder patients with type 2 diabetes.Methods:Totally 84 elder patients with type 2 diabetes,whose blood glucose was not well-controlled by taking oral antidiabetic drugs,were randomly divided into two groups.They were injected with insulin glargine(at 22 PM every day,n=42)or intensive insulin(novolin R 30 min before meals and novin N at 22 PM,n=42),in addition to taking acarbose three times daily with meals.The levels of pre-meal and postprandial blood glucose were examined.The therapeutic target was pre-meal blood glucose 8 mmol·L-1 and postprandial blood glucose 10 mmol·L-1.The effect of blood glucose control and the incidence of hypoglycemia were observed.Results:After treatment for 8 weeks,the daily glucose profiles and glycated hemoglobin levels significantly dropped in both groups(P0.05).The BMI did not change rapidly in insulin glargine group,but markedly increased in intensive insulin group.The incidence of hypoglycemia was significantly lower in insulin glargine group(2 patients)than in intensive insulin group(31 patients,P0.05).Conclusion:The blood glucose levels can be well controlled by both insulin glargine and intensive insulin treatments,but the incidence of hypoglycemia and weight-gain are lower after insulin glargine than after intensive insulin treatment.