A new survey published Tuesday in the American Medical Association Journal concluded that there are no notable differences between different diabetes meds. In other words, it doesn’t matter if your doctor prescribed insulin or Metformin for your type II diabetes, they will both have the same effect.

The cited survey analyzed hundreds of previous studies that focused on the best diabetes meds and the effects of several different diabetes treatments. The results were inconclusive in the sense that all of the examined medications displayed similar effects when administered to patients suffering from type II diabetes.

These new results support the use of metformin when treating a newly-diagnosed patient. In the case in which the individual presents side effects to the cheap and old diabetes treatment, then the doctor can recommend another, newer medication.

Some diabetes meds are more expensive than others, and some are more accessible than others. Metformin is both accessible and cheap, making it the go to treatment. However, up until now, some members of the medical society believed that the drug is not as potent as other, newer medication.

Dr. Kevin Pantalone, a member of the Society of Endocrinology and a diabetes specialist at the Clinic of Cleveland, declared that most doctors avoid prescribing metformin to patients because it can cause diarrhea and an upset stomach. It is also not recommended in the case of individuals who have kidney problems.

According to the CDC, over 29 million people in the United States suffer from type II diabetes. The disorder is more than often linked to a poor diet and obesity. The illness causes chronically high blood sugar levels that in time can lead to more serious complications like kidney failure, stroke, or hypertension.

There is a great variety of diabetes meds on the market, most of them being efficient only in maintaining constant blood sugar levels. However, it was unclear if the diabetes treatments are also useful in preventing the apparition of additional symptoms.

The cited survey did not find much of a difference between the diabetes meds that are currently available on the market, however, the researchers that conducted it said that the work is not exhaustive.

“So what we know is that currently, there is no good evidence that one drug can improve life expectancy better than another – either when they are used as the only drug for treatment, or when added to metformin,” declared one of the authors.

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