Wednesday, October 9, 2019
Please give a conclusion of this presentation Essay
Please give a conclusion of this presentation - Essay Example For a good student, after graduation, he or she is married and take time to think about the future life. Get money and save for the sake of the future life and for the coming generation. For students, the major aim is to have focus on the future life. For a good student, he or she is supposed to have a good future by passing very well and avoid debts in order to build wealth by saving from the little earned at work. It is health to save money because of emergency and wealth building. Also one can avoid impulse buying because of the stress one faces and may lead to a syndrome problem. In building the wealth one must create a budget that will govern and direct the investment procedures. Wealth has values like creating security to someone and promotes investment. One should avoid credit cards because they facilitate a lot of spending. It is a challenge for the students to focus on their lives and think about their
Monday, October 7, 2019
Cultural values and other factors within America Essay
Cultural values and other factors within America - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that America is the country of choice as far as relocation is concerned here. This is because America is a free society in entirety and people can enjoy whatever they feel like doing. America is a haven as far as work domains are concerned because it gives an individual so much in terms of learning and acquiring of skills that other people from the rest of the world can only think of. America is a free world. This has been proven with time and research. Its culture is such that people are allowed the space to interact with one another, enjoy the respective spaces, mingle with the different practices and realms, and basically enjoy lifeââ¬â¢s varied offerings. The cultural; values that are most widespread within America comprise of the respect that the people show to one another. They do not like to interfere in another manââ¬â¢s job. Hence the reason that there is a lot of empathy for one another, and people like to cherish each other ââ¬â¢s company. What is best about America is how these people are able to turn a new leaf with each passing day, and thus remain committed to the cause of growth and development, both within the professional entities as well as their personal selves. The social practices that are present in America are such that people enjoy them immensely. They like to go to parties, on beaches, enjoy different games and sports, varied activities, and so on.
Sunday, October 6, 2019
New Gillette Razor Pricing For Asian Market Essay
New Gillette Razor Pricing For Asian Market - Essay Example Gillette Research and Development has engineered a new sanitary razor product, and Gillette Information Management aims to provide decision support for the purpose of pricing the new product. Here, we investigate the market for shaving products with respect to this endeavour. Gillette Information Management has collected 90 relevant observations. With that data, we produced the necessary descriptive statistics and histograms about price by gender, number of cartridge blades, and country of purchase. We apply the mean and median to describe the central tendency of data and the standard deviation to describe the variability of data (Table 1). The coefficient of variation compares variability across the sample (Table 1). The data is within the range of normal distribution because Kurtosis and Skewness are both between 2.0 and -2.0 (Table 1). Female razors constituted over 70% of the sample. They are an average of .36 more expensive than the entire sample. The coefficient of variation, Skewness and Kurtosis were all comparable to the sample at large (Table 2). Male razors are an average of .90 less expensive than the entire sample. Skewness and Kurtosis were all comparable to the sample at large, but the coefficient of variation was over 20 percentage points lower (Table 3). A histogram of the data reveals a dissimilar trend in the data where there are less logical bins than the female products prices and the yield. Each bin seems to have an outlying frequency, and the minimum is .80 lower than the yieldââ¬â¢s (Figure 3). Our method is the application of descriptive statistics and histograms to answer the certain question that will assist us in determining the price. We note the data set is almost completely left-skewed. Most of the products are aimed at women so our packaging should target that demographic. The results are limited because of the high coefficient of variance of the yield.Ã
Saturday, October 5, 2019
Suitability of a relational database structure rather than a Essay
Suitability of a relational database structure rather than a spreadsheet table - Essay Example This research is about determining the suitability of a relational database structure over a spreadsheet table for storing and accessing data for a local arts centre. The local arts centre wants to store and access the information on the various classes and/or workshops offered, the tutors, their specialist areas and the people who sign up for the classes. In this scenario there are two main technology options; we can build a spreadsheet structure for managing these operations or we can develop a relational database system to deal with the operations of the local arts centre. The database can be developed using the spreadsheet and relational database structures. In case of effective development and handling of data and its effective manipulation we have seen that relational database structure offers more facilities and functions. However, the spreadsheet structure is also effective in case of small data management because it is easy to produce and manage. But, in case of huge or complex data management and handling we will surely require the relational database structures. Thus, the local arts centre should choose relational database structure for storing the data.
Friday, October 4, 2019
Internet Business and E-Commerce Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words
Internet Business and E-Commerce - Essay Example E-commerce can be between business to business (B2B) or even business to consumers (B2C). Therefore, e-commerce is actually conducting the whole of business online or if there still exists an operational offline real world shop of the business, then e-commerce can be used just for expansion purposes. 1 In this text, it is being assumed that a seller of leather goods is planning to go online through e-commerce. This seller has a very good repute in the market for selling the most premium leather goods. The company, Exquisite Leathers, has 5 branches all over the city and caters to the elite class. For now, it plans to open an online section so that it can expand its business even better. There can be a number of reasons for which a company can go online. The first and foremost reason, which has been mentioned earlier as well, is that the company might want to expand. Expansion can be in terms of serving new customers. When a company goes online, they are now virtually accessible to anyone all over the world. Therefore, if Exquisite Leathers plans to make international customers, this is the best way to do it. When the company will be placed online, it will be accessible to leather good buyers globally. The company will definitely have to use various strategies to make sure that they come to be noticed by all the customers. But e-commerce is the best starting point for expanding any given company's customer base. For that the company will first have to do the demand analysis of leather goods all over the world. This will tell them of their potential market. After this, the company will have to analyse that whether it can even cater to the whole target market that the demand analysis is giving. Therefore, the company will now have to decide on a target market, the market that the company wishes to serve. The target market will depend on the resources of the company to fulfill the needs of a given market. 2 The second reason for going online would be to increase sales. This is a requisite of increasing the customer base, but if we keep the customer base variable constant and just serve the same city that the company already has branches in, and then this reason will be even more valid. For example, if the company does not want to cater to international customers and just wants to make sure that it is fully available to all the customers within the same city, then e-commerce would be a great idea too. This is because there are many customers who are very busy and they do not get the time to go to physical shops and buy leather goods. Providing them with an online store of the shop will make the store easily accessible and available only on a click. This will ensure that the target market that the company wished to serve in the city, that is the elite market, is fully reaching them. Methods Adopted to go Online: A company can use two methods to go online. The first one is that of designing and launching the website themselves. As far as the second method is concerned, it is to go online by outsource the making of the website. The first method includes designing and launching the website themselves. This can be done by assigning the Information Technology department of the company to take care of all the details related to the website. But this does not mean that the Information T
Thursday, October 3, 2019
Tv Food Essay Example for Free
Tv Food Essay Have you ever sat in front of the TV devouring tons of snacks and not even paid attention to how much you had already eaten? That is why this essay sparked my attention! I constantly find myself in front of the TV craving snacks and chomping away, not even thinking about how much I am eating. Dolly Mittal, Richard J. Stevenson, Megan J. Oaten, and Laurie A. Miller conducted an experiment to find out if our memory is a factor for what weââ¬â¢ve already eaten. One amnesiac patient HM started this idea when he sat down to eat a second meal immediately after consuming the first because he had forgotten he already had eaten. This experiment is trying to show that snacking while watching TV, in opposition to snacking while not watching TV, can lead us to eat more later on. They want to prove it is because the TV affects our memory of how much we snacked earlier. In experiment one they take thirty-two female women that are not dieting and not diabetic with a BMI between 18 and 25 and let them spend 20 minutes eating as much snack food as they want. They are given chocolate balls, pringles, coca cola, and orange juice. Half of these ladies did it watching a 20 minute TV episode and the other half did it sitting quietly. Afterwards the remains were taken and measured; both groups consumed around the same amount of snacks. Around one hour later they sat the ladies down to eat lunch which would include: sandwiches, biscuits, crackers and dip. They found the result they were looking for when the women who had watched TV earlier while snacking ate more of this meal than the ladies who had earlier snacked without the TV. The result was finale when the TV group also couldnââ¬â¢t remember how much they had snacked on during the time they watched the TV. In experiment two the experiment was very similar to experiment one except that they wanted to see if the type of TV show would affect anything. This time they had the ladies watch different types of shows- funny, sad, and boring. The results were very similar to the first experiment and they learned that the type of TV show made no difference to the food they consumed. It was confirmed that when normal weight non-dieting females snack while watching TV, they later consume more food on a TV free meal than participants who snacked without TV. Also, participants who watched TV while snacking were less accurate in remembering the amount of snack food they had consumed. Something that I thought was interesting about this experiment is that it doesnââ¬â¢t work on men. In the journal it is mentioned that men take a different approach to this and try to eat as much food as possible, yet in the beginning the amnesiac patient HM that Hebben reported was a male. I didnââ¬â¢t like that the women fasted before they came to do the experiment. It is not a real life situation. Most of the time when Iââ¬â¢m snacking in front of the TV I might have already eaten before that or I am just about to eat. Also If I knew that this experiment was all about food ââ¬â I do not know if I would have eaten what I normally do. I might have been embarrassed and not given correct information. There is no way to make this experiment work 100% but that is how it is with most experiments. They conclude â⬠Our data suggest that TV probably exerts some as yet unspecified effect on participantsââ¬â¢ ability to recall earlier bouts of food consumption, leading to over consumption on a later TV free test meal. As TV viewing is associated with eating in so many different ways and as over consumption of food is a major problem in most industrialized nations, it would seem important to study exactly how this occurs. ââ¬Å" Obesity is a HUGE problem in our country and I think that this could possibly have something to do with it. Even small children are watching TV now with a bag of chips in one hand and a soda in the other. Our nation is constantly getting fatter. Now when I sit in front of the TV I will think about what Iââ¬â¢m eating and apply what I know to help me consume the right amount of food.
Case Study Of A Patient With Diabetes Mellitus Nursing Essay
Case Study Of A Patient With Diabetes Mellitus Nursing Essay Patient Mr. NCS is a 53 year old Chinese man with the height of 1.72m, and weighs 82kg where his BMI is 27.7kg/m2 (overweight). Patient runs his own business and is currently staying with his wife and 3 children. He claims that he does not smoke and does not drink at all. According to the patient, the paternal side of his family has family history of hypertension and kidney failure where else for the maternal side, hypertension was known to be the family history. Patient has no known drug or food allergy. Patient was known to have had hypertension 15 years ago and also a history of pulmonary tuberculosis 35 years ago. Patient denied of being diagnosed with diabetes mellitus in the past. As for drug history, patient was only on 10mg of lovastatin (tablet) once at night and according to the patient, he was compliant to the medication. 1.2 Clinical Progress Patient was admitted into Accident and Emergency department and complained of shortness of breath (SOB) and mild giddiness. He also complained of having chest pain and a first episode of shortness of breath earlier before he was admitted into the hospital. On examination, he was found to be alert and conscious. Venous blood gas sampling was done and pH was found to be 7.306 (low), pCO2 was 44.2mmHg, pO2 was 45.8mmHg and HCO3 was 24.7mmol/L. Blood pressure was found to be 157/95mmHg, pulse rate was 72bpm, SPO2 was 97%, body temperature was 35.4à °C and respiratory rate was 21 breaths per minute. Reflo value was also obtained and it was found to be 17.1mmol/L and blood ketone was 0.9. Lungs were clear and abdominal was soft and non tender. Cardiovascular testing was done and it showed dual rhythm no murmur. The initial impression of this patient by the general practitioner in the hospital was impending diabetes ketoacidosis. Patient was immediately given 6 units Actrapid subcutaneousl y and the GP also planned to give O2 3L/min and to prescribe GTN 1/1 subcutaneously and Aspirin 1/1. Later on day 1 of admission, patient complained of increased in sweating, shortness of breath, body weakness and vomiting for 3 times in the morning. Patients blood pressure was 123/76, pulse rate was 82bpm, SPO2 was 99% and respiratory rate was 20 breaths per minute. When patient was asked, he mentioned that he has not done body check up and blood pressure measurement for at least 5 years now. Later in the afternoon, patient complained of excessive sweating and lack of appetite for the past 3 days. Patient then denied of having any chest discomfort or shortness of breath, headache and abdominal pain. Besides that, patient also complained of having polyuria and needed to wake up more than 3 times at night for micturation. He also complained of having polydypsia, lethargic and vomiting for 2 times in the morning. Patient was examined and he was found to be alert and conscious where he responded fully to Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS). Patient was also found to have good hydration and his ca pillary refill time (CRT) was less than 2 seconds. Vital signs were obtained and temperature was back to normal, 37à °C, blood pressure was 151/69, SPO2 was 97%, pulse rate was 88bpm and reflo value was 14.6. The management plan by the local GP was to continue monitoring the reflo value, prescribe 10mg lovastatin (tablet) once at night and 10mg amlodipine (tablet) once daily and have the patient to rest in bed. As patient was able to tolerate orally, IV drip was off and patient was allowed to take fluid orally. On day 2, patient was found to be comfortable. However, patient complained of having poor oral intake and that he was sweating profusely. He was still feeling mild giddiness and lethargic but no more chest or abdominal pain. Vital signs were observed and temperature was 37à °C, blood pressure was 128/84, pulse rate was 96bpm and reflo was 14.9mmol/L. Fundoscopy was also done and patient was found to not have any signs of retinopathy and chest X-ray was found to be clear. The management plan for day 2 was to continue 10mg amlodipine once daily, allow fluid intake orally, continue reflo monitoring 4 hourly and to trace and review the fasting blood sugar (FBS). On examination, patient was found to be alert and responded well to the GCS with the score of 15/15. Blood pressure was taken and it was 145/100 when patient was lying down and 130/90 when patient was standing. Renal profile was normal except for low potassium level of 3.0mmol/L. Impression for this patient was newly diagnosed d iabetes mellitus. Further management plan for this patient was to conduct a stress test on patient after discussing with the specialists and to monitor patients blood pressure for both lying down and standing up position 4 hourly for a day. Further plan was to start 500mg metformin (tablet) twice daily, 150mg aspirin (tablet) once daily, 20mg lovastatin (tablet) once at night, trace urine full examination microscopic examination and to refer the patient for diabetic counseling. Besides that, local GP also decided to off amlodipine and to change it to 4mg perindopril (tablet) once daily. Table 1 : Patients laboratory findings on Day 2. Sodium 129 mmol/L à ¢Ã¢â¬ ââ¬Å" [135 145mmol/L] Potassium 3.0 mmol/L [ 3.5 5.0mmol/L] Creatinine 83 à µmol/L [27 62 à µmol/L] Glucose fasting 14.1 mmol/L [3.9-5.0mmol/L] Total Cholesterol 5.7 HDL 0.82 Triglycerides 6.7 AST 24 IU/I [10-37IU/I] ALT 45 IU/I [10-65IU/I] Bilirubin 11 à µmol/L [2-24 à µmol/L] INR 1.03 Trop I 0.02 CKMB 0.5 Disease Overview and Pharmacological Basis of Drug Therapy. Disease Background The prevalence of diabetes mellitus (DM) varies vastly from population to population and throughout the whole wide world. In United Kingdom (UK) itself, diabetes prevalence increased from 2.8% in the year of 1996 to 4.3% in the year of 2005. The incidence of type 2 DM showed an increase from 2.60/1000 person-years in 1996 to 4.31/1000 person-years in 20059. As much as the incidence of DM is increasing, it was estimated that up to half a million more have not had their condition diagnosed and treated10. Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a disorder in which blood glucose level is persistently above the normal range. This hyperglycaemia is thought to be due to either deficiency of insulin secretion or resistance to the action of insulin, or it could also be a combination of these6,7. DM is classified into four different types which include Type 1 DM, Type 2 DM, DM due to specific mechanisms and diseases and lastly, gestational DM8. Only type 2 DM will be discussed further here. Type 2 DM is normally caused by a combination of insulin resistance and decreased insulin secretion to overcome the resistance. It is the more common form of DM and it comprises of approximately 90-95% of the total DM cases8. The common risk factors associated with type 2 DM include increasing age, high caloric intake, overweight, central adiposity and sedentary lifestyle8. In type 2 DM patients, insulin secretory peaks every 5-10 minutes seen in normal subjects are hardly or absolutely not seen. In normal cases, when intravenous glucose is administered into a humans body, this will stimulate normal insulin secretion and is illustrated by a biphasic pattern, with an initial peak rising immediately 3-5 minutes after the administration, and lasted for 10 minutes, then followed by a deliberat e and more progressive phase, which lasts throughout the glucose infusion period. In type 2 DM, initial phase insulin secretion is not seen and the late phase occurs later and to a lesser extent11. For the diagnosis of DM, hyperglycaemia must be established before confirming that the patient has DM. Persistent hyperglycaemia needs to be confirmed and in order to do so, at least two plasma glucose measurements must be taken on separate days. There are three different types of plasma glucose test that can be used which include casual plasma glucose, fasting plasma glucose and oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). According to WHO, there are three main criteria to be met to confirm diabetes in patients. The first would be symptoms of diabetes which include thirst, polydipsia, loss of weight and polyuria are seen in patients and their casual plasma glucose à ¢Ã¢â¬ °Ã ¥ 11mmol/L. The other two would be if patients fasting plasma glucose à ¢Ã¢â¬ °Ã ¥ 7.0mmol/L and patients 2-hours plasma glucose à ¢Ã¢â¬ °Ã ¥ 11.1mmol/L during OGTT being conducted by giving the patient 75g of glucose load6. OGTT is the most effective test to detect glucose metabolism disorder where it assesses the rate of glucose excretion after administration of glucose. OGTT is strongly recommended when fasting blood glucose is within 7.0-7.8 mmol/L in the diabetic range where OGTT is practical to clarify the diagnosis6,8. Summary of Drugs Pharmacology Aspirin Aspirin with the dose of 150mg is used as an anti-platelet agent or as prophylaxis to cardiovascular events. The mechanism of action of aspirin as an anti-platelet agent is strongly associated with the permanent inactivation of prostaglandin synthase and cyclooxygenase12. It also inhibits the formation of thromboxane in the platelet concurrently. The common side effects of aspirin include bronchospasm, gastrointestinal haemorrhage and also other forms of haemorrhage13. Lovastatin Statin reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease events without taking into account of the serum cholesterol concentration and is often used as the drug of first choice in the primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease. The mechanism of action of statins involves competitive inhibition of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG CoA) reductase, which is the enzyme involved in the synthesis of cholesterol13. As liver is the major site of cholesterol biosynthesis, it appears to be the main target organ for the statins14. Statins can cause several muscular adverse effects which include myositis and other side effects include gastrointestinal disturbances, sleep disturbances, dizziness, paraesthesia, fatigue, sexual dysfunction and alopecia13. Metformin Metformin is so far the only biguanide available in the market now. It is an antihyperglycemic agent that improves glucose tolerance in patients with type 2 DM by decreasing both the intestinal absorption of glucose and the hepatic glucose production, and improves insulin sensitivity in the tissues. Metformin was also found to have potentially favourable effects on decreasing serum lipid levels and fibrinolytic activity15. Gastrointestinal side effects such as nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhoea are common with metformin and may persist in some patients13. Lactic acidosis due to metformin is rare, and the risk of this complication is higher in patients with renal impairment13,15. Amlodipine Amlodipine falls in the calcium channel blockers group which act by interfering with the inward entrance of calcium ions via slow channels present in the active cell membranes. They act mainly on the myocardial cells and the vascular smooth muscle cells which then lead to reduction of myocardial contractility. It affects both the electrical impulses and vascular tone within the heart where they may be depressed or diminished13. 2.2.5 Perindopril Perindopril is an angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor where it acts by inhibiting the conversion of angiotensin I to angiotensin II. ACE inhibitors are the preferred initial drug to be used for hypertension13. ACE is the enzyme that converts angiotensin I to angiotensin II where angiotensin II causes increase blood pressure, systemic vasoconstriction, Na2+ and fluid retention and etc16. Thus, ACE inhibitors act by directly blocking the formation of angiotensin II and also increase the bradykinin level at the same time. This results in reduced vasoconstriction and increased vasodilation through the release of bradykinin. The common side effects of perindopril include profound hypotension, dry cough, angioedema, rash and gastrointestinal disturbances13. Actrapid (Soluble Insulin) Insulin plays an important role in the regulation of carbohydrate, protein and fat metabolism where it helps to increase the glucose utilization in human body. Actrapid, soluble insulin, is a short acting form of insulin where it is normally injected into patients 15 to 30 minutes pre-meal. Actrapid is normally given in emergency cases especially in patients suspected with diabetic ketoacidosis4. It is normally administered subcutaneously as it gives a rapid onset of action (30 to 60 minutes) and a longer duration of action of up to 8 hours. One of the potential problems of insulin is hypoglycaemia where patients can be advised on how to avoid it13. 2.2.7 Glyceryl Trinitrate (GTN) Nitrate plays a key role in the prophylaxis and treatment of angina. It causes direct relaxation on vascular smooth muscles and also dilation of the coronary vessels which improves oxygen supply to the heart. Dilation of the blood vessels results in reduction of preload and afterload and thus, myocardial oxygen consumption is reduced17. Sublingual form of GTN is one of the most effective drugs to provide a fast symptomatic relief of chest pain but it is of short duration of action. Dose of 300mcg is appropriate as the starting dose for patients who have not used GTN before previously. Side effects of nitrates include postural hypotension, tachycardia, dizziness, throbbing headache and possible nausea, vomiting, flushing and heartburn13. 2.2.8 Oxygen Oxygen is normally prescribed for patients experiencing hypoxia to raise the alveolar oxygen tension and to lessen the workload of breathing in patients. There are generally four types of oxygen therapy which include long term oxygen therapy, short burst oxygen therapy, emergency oxygen and ambulatory oxygen. It is commonly given in emergency cases to achieve oxygen saturation within the normal range, just like in this case. The administration of the correct oxygen concentration is important as inappropriate concentration of oxygen may result in serious or fatal outcomes13. Evidence for Treatment of The Condition. Metformin Metformin is one of the main therapeutic drugs used in managing Type 2 DM and many clinical studies have been conducted to support the clinical use of metformin in the management of type 2 DM. In one of the Cochrane Review, it confirms that metformin as a single agent is one of the key therapeutic options for type 2 DM in patients with overweight or obesity problems, as it may prevent some cardiovascular complications events and mortality as well. Just as mentioned in this patient, he is a newly diagnosed diabetes patient who is overweight and he was given metformin 500 mg twice daily. In the study, 29 trials with 5259 participants were included in the analysis, comparing metformin (2007 participants) with sulphonylureas (1167), placebo (702), diet (493), thiazolidinediones (132), insulin (439), meglitinides (208), and glucosidase inhibitors (111). Obese patients who are given metformin as blood glucose control agent showed a superior benefit than glibenclamide, chlorpropamide, or insulin for any diabetes-related consequences (P = 0.009), and for mortality (P = 0.03). Besides that, patients assigned to metformin as a single therapy showed a significant greater benefit for blood glucose control, weight, dyslipidaemia, and blood pressure18. Besides that, the Comparative Outcomes Study of Metformin Intervention versus Conventional (COSMIC) study was done to compare the incidence of serious adverse effects, mortality and hospitalization in patients receiving metformin and also those who are on other usual care treatments. Among the patients, 7,227 of them received metformin and another 1,505 of the patients received usual care. To the end of the study, there were only 89.7% of the metformin group and 76.9% of the usual care group remained receiving their initial intended treatment. Serious adverse events were reported in 10.3% of the metformin group and in 11.0% of the usual care group, where both the groups reported similar adverse events. Cardiovascular events were found to be the most ordinary cause of death in DM patients where 0.7% occurred in metformin group while 0.9% in usual care group19. A population-based cohort study was also done to study on the mortality rates with the use of sulphonylureas compared to metformin. The mean age of the patients was 66.3à ±13.4 years old where 43.4% were female and their mean length of follow-up was 4.6à ±2.1 years. A greater risk of mortality was observed with higher daily doses of the first-generation sulfonylureas and glyburide but not metformin20. 3.2 Insulin secretagogues (Sulphonylureas and Meglitinides) Sulphonylureas is another group of antidiabetic treatment used after metformin in Type 2 DM. Patients blood glucose level remained high on day 2 and thus should be monitored closely after administering metformin. If blood glucose level has not been brought down, addition of sulphonylureas or meglitinides should be considered. The sulphonylureas act by enhancing insulin secretion. The sulphonylureas act at the pancreatic ÃŽà ²-cell membrane by causing closing of ATP-sensitive potassium (K+) channels. Closure of the channels occurred when sulphonylurea binds to the sulphonylurea receptor (SUR) subunit of the K+ channel. Meglitinides, which is not a sulphonylurea, act through the same mechanism where it also binds at the sulphonylurea binding site. Examples of sulphonylureas include tolbutamide, gliclazide, glibenclamide and glimepiride. Meglitinides is referred as an alternative to sulphonylureas as it does not cause additional stimulation of insulin excretion when patient failed to respond to maximal dosage of sulphonylureas. Examples of meglitinides include repaglinide and nateglinide21. Adding on a sulphonylurea or meglitinide to metformin as a therapy to type 2 DM was found to have a better control of blood glucose level. 318 patients (61 from metformin group, 126 from glimepiride group and 131 from glimepiride + metformin group) completed the study to compare the effectiveness of metformin monotherapy, glimepiride monotherapy and the combination treatment in controlling blood glucose level. It was found that the greater efficacy of combination treatment in reducing HbA1c levels than either glimepiride alone (p Comparison was conducted in a study where 124 patients were randomly given either repaglinide 1 mg daily or glimepiride 1 mg daily. The dose of study drug was given over an 8 week titration duration, which then followed by a 12 months treatment length. FPG levels, HbAlc values and PPG levels significantly fall from baseline in both groups after 6 and 12 months of treatment. However, after 12 months, fasting plasma insulin (FPI) levels on the other hand were significantly increased in the repaglinide group (p So far, the most commonly reported adverse event in sulphonylureas was hypoglycaemia. 605 people over 34,052 person-years were diagnosed with hypoglycemia during sulphonylurea therapy, which equals to an annual risk of 1.8%24. There is also high risk of hypoglycaemia in diabetic patients who are taking ACE inhibitors at the same time. Therefore, the use of sulphonylureas in this patient should be used in caution as he is currently taking perindopril as his anti-hypertensive drug. Several studies suggested that there is an increase in mortality due to cardiac events in patients treated with sulphonylureas. In one of the studies, 120, 4138 and 1537 patients were given a first-generation sulfonylurea, glyburide monotherapy and metformin monotherapy respectively. 24.8% of the total deaths were found to be due to an acute ischaemic event. Those given first-generation sulfonylurea monotherapy had the highest mortality (67.6 deaths per 1000 person-years), compared with metformin monotherapy users (39.6 deaths per 1000 person-years). As higher doses are used, higher rates of death are observed as compared to those who are on lower doses20. Other less common side effects of sulphonylureas include weight gain, nausea, diarrhoea, gastrointestinal pain and cutaneous reactions such as rashes, urticaria and pruritus21. Further Management Thiazolidinediones, gliptins (GLP-1) mimetic, also known as exenatide and insulin administrations are the further management in type 2 DM if the above oral anti-diabetic agents are not able to control the high blood glucose level. Pioglitazone and rosiglitazone are examples of thiazolidinediones where they are the newer oral anti-diabetic agents which are more expensive but present better adverse effects profiles. A thiazolidinedione can be added on instead of a sulfonylurea as second-line therapy if sulphonylurea is contraindicated or not well tolerated or it can be added on to the sulphonylurea therapy if metformin is contraindicated. Another recommendation is to add on a thiazolidinedione to metformin plus sulphonylurea when the blood glucose is not well controlled and the use of insulin therapy is not suitable25. Two randomised trials were conducted and in the first study, 317 patients who are already on metformin received an add-on therapy of pioglitazone at the dose 15-45 mg/day and another 313 patients received gliclazide at the dose 80-320 mg/day instead. In the second study, 319 patients who are already on sulphonylurea therapy were randomly assigned to receive add-on therapy of pioglitazone at the do se 15-45 mg/day and another 320 with metformin at the dose of 850-2,550 mg/day. After 2 years, the mean reduction in HbA1c from baseline was found to be 0.89% for pioglitazone and 0.77% for gliclazide addition to metformin. The reduction in mean FBG after 2 years was statistically significant between the two add-on therapies where a decrease of 1.8 mmol/L for pioglitazone and a decrease of 1.1 mmol/L for gliclazide was seen (p Another option is adding on a GLP-1 mimetic agent as third-line therapy to first-line metformin and a second-line sulfonylurea25. Effectiveness of exenatides in bringing down the blood glucose level in type 2 DM patients was extensively studied. One of the studies includes patients at the age of 22-76 years old and had type 2 DM treated with at least the maximally effective dose of a sulfonylurea as monotherapy for at least 3 months. After a 4 weeks single-blind, placebo period, 377 patients were randomized (60% men, age 55à ±11 years, BMI 33à ±6 kg/m2, HbA1c 8.6à ±1.2%) and began either at 5 à µg subcutaneous exenatide twice daily(before breakfast and dinner; arms A and B) or placebo for 4 weeks. Patients in arm B were then increased to 10 à µg bd of exenatide. At week 30, HbA1c changes from baseline were -0.86à ±0.11, -0.46à ±0.12, and 0.12à ±0.09% (à ±SE) in the 10-à µg, 5-à µg, and placebo arms respectively (p à ¢Ã¢â¬ °Ã ¤ 0.001). FPG values also showed a significan t reduction in the 10-à µg arm compared to the placebo arm (P à ¢Ã¢â¬ °Ã ¤ 0.05) 28. If all else fails to control blood glucose, insulin therapy should be introduced in patients with poorly controlled type 2 DM. It was believed that there is possibility that the oral anti-diabetic agents mentioned above might be useful in combination with insulin therapy in enhancing better blood glucose control, reducing insulin dose requirement, or minimizing side effects of insulin therapy. A study was conducted to compare the efficacy of adding once-daily basal insulin with switching to twice-daily premixed insulin in type 2 DM patients uncontrolled by oral anti-diabetic agents (OADs). It was a 24 weeks period clinical trial where 371 patients with poor glycaemic control (FBG à ¢Ã¢â¬ °Ã ¥120 mg/dl, HbA1c 7.5-10.5%) were randomized to once-daily morning insulin glargine plus glimepiride and metformin or to only 30% regular/70% human NPH insulin (70/30) twice daily without any OADs. It was found that mean HbA1c decrease from baseline was significantly better in the presence of O ADs than the one without OADs (p = 0.0003). More patients reached HbA1c à ¢Ã¢â¬ °Ã ¤7.0% without confirmed nocturnal hypoglycemia (45.5 vs. 28.6%, p = 0.0013) with glargine plus OAD than with only 70/30 NPH insulin. In addition, decrease in FPG was greater with glargine plus OAD (p Conclusion In this patient, he was newly diagnosed with type 2 DM and was given metformin 500mg twice daily initially to control his high blood glucose level, which was appropriate according to the guideline. If blood glucose is still not well controlled, changing of medication or further management as above should be considered. As hypertension and overweight are risk factors of DM, hypertension should be well managed in this patient and the patient should be advised on complying with his medication. Besides that, patient should also be advised on healthy diet and lifestyle to control his weight.
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