Meal-time glucose control: the role of oral drugs

As a species, our condition has changed: from prolonged periods of fasting and occasional gorging, to nearly constant feeding with rarely occurring periods of fasting. The constant availability of ‘grazing opportunities’ has contributed to a change in the body build of humans towards increasing body weight, overweight, and obesity. With this change has come a massive increase in the number of people with diabetes and diabetes- and- obesity-related health problems. In a world where people now spend the majority of their time eating or digesting what they have just consumed, researchers are taking a close look at the negative effects of post-meal high blood glucose (hyperglycaemia), notably in the development of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Alan Garber reports on oral treatments for meal-time glucose control with particular regard to meal-time and post-meal glucose levels.