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Actos works by improving the body s response to its natural supply of insulin, rather than increasing its insulin output.
Actos also reduces the production of unneeded sugar in the liver. Actos (and the similar drug Avandia) can be used alone or in combination with insulin injections or other oral diabetes medications such as DiaBeta, Micronase, Glucotrol, or Glucophage.
Actos (Pioglitazone) is a drug that reduces the amount of glucose (sugar) in the blood. Actos is in a class of anti-diabetic drugs called thiazolidinediones that are used in the treatment of type II diabetes. The other member in this class is rosiglitazone (Avandia). (Another member of this class, troglitazone or Rezulin, was removed from the market because of liver toxicity.)
Patients with type II diabetes cannot make enough insulin, and the cells of their body do not respond normally to the reduced amounts of insulin that are present. (Insulin is the hormone produced by the pancreas that stimulates cells to remove glucose from the blood.) Actos (Pioglitazone) often is referred to as an insulin sensitizer because it attaches to the insulin receptors on cells throughout the body and causes the cells to become more sensitive (more responsive) to insulin. As a result, more glucose is removed from the blood. At least some insulin must be produced by the pancreas in order for Actos (pioglitazone) to work.
Actos (Pioglitazone) also lowers the level of glucose in the blood by reducing the production and secretion of glucose into the blood by the liver. In addition, Actos may alter the blood concentrations of lipids (fats) in the blood. Specifically, it decreases triglycerides and increases the good (HDL) cholesterol.
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