Monitoring the medications of clients with noninsulin-dependent diabetes mellitus

Noninsulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) (type 2) affects 16 million people in the United States. To effectively monitor such clients in the home, a thorough knowledge of the medications used to control hyperglycemia is needed. Primary failure with monotherapy has been studied and found to occur within 6 years. Combinations of two drug classes now are used to control blood glucose levels. The home health care provider must be aware of the mechanism of action of the different classes of hypoglycemic agents to monitor treatment. This article will discuss the different agents, their mechanism of action, and the use of combination therapies.