SOUTH KINGSTOWN – One of the frequent side effects of treating Type 2 Diabetes – a chronic disease of high blood sugar – with oral medication is the patient’s risk of developing hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar.
This seemingly counter-intuitive health problem is the focus of research by Brian Quilliam, University of Rhode Island associate professor of pharmacy. He is conducting a study using nationwide data on 535,000 Type 2 Diabetes patients who have employer-based health insurance in order to provide a better understanding of the risks of low blood sugar, as well as ways to improve patients’ health and reduce costs associated with its treatment.
Seifert Systems Invests in Energy Efficiency to Strengthen Operations
For manufacturers, energy is more than just another operating expense. It plays a critical role…
Learn More
The one-year, $127,000 study is being funded by Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America Inc., a pharmaceutical company with headquarters in Deerfield, Ill.
“Traditionally, we focus on diabetes treatment related to high blood sugar. Unfortunately, when you try to bring a patient’s blood sugar down [with oral medication], you can run the risk of bringing the blood sugar too low,” Quilliam said. When this happens, costly medical intervention is often required, he said.
His study, which is using retrospective data from secondary sources, examines the occurrence of hypoglycemia in adult populations, how frequently it occurs, and how much it costs to treat. Quilliam said he plans to finish the study by the end of the calendar year.
“Many clinicians are using oral medications to treat Type 2 Diabetes,” Quilliam said. As a result, he continued, hypoglycemia has been accepted as commonly occurring side effect.” He said his study attempts to quantify both its prevalence and the medical costs associated with its treatment. Quilliam said he hoped the study’s finding would improve both patient and physician education, and reduce unnecessary medical costs associated with rehospitalization and additional visits to physicians.
