Glucobay

Country of origin - Germany, Bayer Healthcare AG Germany
Pharm-Group - Additional antidiabetic agents

Manufacturers - Bayer AG (Germany), Bayer Healthcare AG (Germany)
International name - Acarbose
Dosage forms - 50 mg tablets, 100 mg tablets
Composition - Active substance - acarbose.
Indications for use: Diabetes mellitus type 2 with ineffective diet therapy (the course of which must be at least 6 months), as well as ineffective combined treatment with sulfonylurea derivatives and a low-calorie diet.
Contraindications - Hypersensitivity, diabetic ketoacidosis, liver cirrhosis; acute and chronic inflammatory bowel diseases, complicated by digestive and absorption disorders; pathology of the gastrointestinal tract with increased gas formation, ulcerative colitis, intestinal obstruction or predisposition to it, severe renal dysfunction, large hernias, pregnancy, lactation, childhood (safety and effectiveness of use in children have not been determined).
Side effects - Jaundice, flatulence, diarrhea, abdominal pain; rarely - a spontaneous, transient increase in the level of transaminases (AST and ALT), a decrease in hematocrit, a decrease in the concentration of calcium, vitamin B6 in the blood plasma.
Interaction - Activated carbon and other intestinal adsorbents, digestive enzyme preparations containing pancreatin or amylase reduce the effect. Thiazide diuretics, corticosteroids, thyroid hormones, estrogens, oral contraceptives, phenytoin, phenothiazines, calcium antagonists, nicotinic acid, sympathomimetics, isoniazid and other drugs that cause hyperglycemia significantly weaken the specific activity (decompensation of diabetes mellitus is possible), sulfonylurea derivatives increase it.
Overdose - Symptoms: increased discomfort in the abdominal area, diarrhea, flatulence. No treatment required.
Special instructions - In case of fever, injuries, upcoming surgery and in the postoperative period, use is possible only if the expected effect exceeds the potential risk. Treatment should be carried out under the control of blood glucose and/or urine glycosylated hemoglobin and transaminases. Increasing the dose to more than 300 mg per day is accompanied by a further, but weakly expressed, decrease in postprandial hyperglycemia with a simultaneous increase in the risk of hyperfermentemia. When used simultaneously with sulfonylureas or insulin, hypoglycemia may develop, which is corrected by adding sugar (glucose) to food or intravenous administration of dextrose, or in severe cases, by using glucagon.
Literature - Encyclopedia of Medicines 2004.