Description
Gliclazide (brand name: Diamicron) is a type of medicine used to help control blood sugar levels in people with type 2 diabetes.

People with type 2 diabetes (non-insulin dependent diabetes) have a deficiency of a hormone called insulin. Insulin is produced by the pancreas and is the main hormone responsible for controlling sugar levels in the blood. It normally makes the cells of the body remove excess sugar from the blood. In type 2 diabetes the cells of the body are also resistant to the action of insulin that is produced, which means that blood sugar levels can become too high.

Gliclazide is a type of antidiabetic medicine known as a sulphonylurea. It helps control blood sugar levels by acting on the cells in the pancreas that produce insulin. These cells are called beta cells, and gliclazide causes them to produce more insulin.

Gliclazide improves insulin production immediately after eating. This is called early or first phase insulin secretion, and does not normally happen in people with type 2 diabetes. The enhanced insulin production results in a blood sugar lowering effect in response to meals or glucose, as occurs naturally in non-diabetic people.

Gliclazide is used when dietary measures, weight loss and physical exercise are not enough to control blood sugar levels in people with type 2 diabetes.

Gliclazide has been shown to prevent blood cells called platelets from clumping together in the blood. It also increases the breakdown of blood clots that form within the blood vessels. This may help prevent the long-term complications of diabetes, which may be partly due to changes in the blood vessels caused by these mechanisms.

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