Oral Hypoglycemic Medications

Diabetes mellitus is becoming a worldwide epidemic. Epidemiologists estimate that by 2025 diabetes will affect 300 million people, with about half of them from the Asia Oceania region alone. During this time, there will be three-fold increase of this disease in Asia, both in developed countries like China and India, and in the rapidly developing countries, such as Malaysia and Singapore. In the last two decades, Malaysia has undergone rapid growth, registering an improved quality of life, a reduced mortality rate, and an increased median age. Unfortunately, this great progress also makes Malaysia highly prone to the diabetes epidemic. The ratio of the diabetic patients who can achieve the target glycaemic control is varied from one population to another. This depends on many factors; the treatment and the patients compliance to the treatment are part of these factors. von Albaroodi, Khansaa A. Ibrahim