Duetact offers you two ways to help control your blood sugar in one pill. With the combination of two medications for the treatment of type 2 diabetes—ACTOS and glimepiride—duetact helps lower your blood sugar.

View an animation that shows how ACTOS works.

Turning food into energy

• When you eat, food is broken down into different products that can be used by your body.
• One of those products is glucose, or sugar, the main source of energy for the body.
• In order to process glucose into energy, the pancreas produces insulin—a hormone that allows cells to absorb glucose (sugar).
• Insulin is produced by the pancreas and is needed to let sugar into the body’s cells so it can be processed into energy.

Insulin resistance in type 2 diabetes

• For people with type 2 diabetes, the body cannot produce enough insulin to properly use the sugar in their blood. In addition, their cells lose their sensitivity to insulin—a condition known as insulin resistance.
• Because some cells, such as muscle cells, are not sensitive to insulin, they cannot absorb blood sugar for the energy they need to function.
• The body responds to this situation by signaling the pancreas to produce more insulin, causing insulin levels in the blood to become too high. This condition is known as hyperinsulinemia. Unfortunately, even this extra insulin does not allow insulin-resistant cells to absorb blood sugar.
• Eventually, the pancreas can no longer produce enough insulin to compensate for insulin resistance. The cells in the liver also become insulin resistant and respond by making too much blood sugar.
• Because blood sugar is not absorbed by the cells, it stays in the blood, causing blood sugar levels to rise—a condition known as hyperglycemia.
• Over time, high levels of sugar in the blood can result in damage to parts of the body such as the kidneys, eyes, nerves, and heart.

How the ACTOS portion works:

• Along with healthy eating and physical activity, ACTOS works by reducing insulin resistance, which helps reduce the harmful buildup of sugar in the blood.
  • ACTOS increases the sensitivity of cells to insulin. When the cells in the body are more sensitive to insulin:
    • They can absorb blood sugar for the energy they need to function properly.
    • The amount of sugar in the blood goes down, because the sugar is absorbed by the cells rather than remaining in the blood.

How the glimepiride portion works:

• Glimepiride lowers blood glucose levels by helping the pancreas release more insulin.

How duetact can work for you

When both medications in duetact are working together, the sugar that’s in your blood can pass more easily into the cells of your body where it’s needed, which lowers your blood sugar levels. Excessive sugar levels in the blood can lead to long-term complications.

The combination of ACTOS plus glimepiride in duetact:

• Has been shown to reduce A1C levels (your average blood sugar level over the last 2–3 months) and maintain them over time.
• Can provide improvements in both HDL-C and triglycerides.
• Can help you manage your type 2 diabetes while providing the convenience you want in a single pill with one simple co-pay.
• Is available in a convenient, once-daily dose.

Next: Meet the ACTOS characters!

The effects of these lipid changes on morbidity and mortality have not been determined.

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