We have 12 classes of drugs in our armamentarium for the war on diabetes. The latest class is SGLT2 inhibitors and the newest of these is dapagliflozin. I read the manufacturer’s U.S. package insert and updated my SGLT2 inhibitor post.
Your kidneys normally filter some blood glucose into the “urine” and then reabsorb nearly all of it back into the blood. SGLT2 inhibitors interfere with reabsorption, so glucose ends up in the urine.
If you’re thinking that might cause yeast infections, you’re right.
Fun Fact: Taking 10 mg/day of dapagliflozin leads to loss of blood glucose into the urinary tract to the tune of 70 grams a day.
That’s 280 calories down the drain. I suspect that cutting 70 grams of carbohydrate from your diet would have just as much effect on diabetes as do these drugs. Without the yeast infections.
This drug class’s mechanism of action doesn’t appeal to me intellectually.
Steve Parker, M.D.
