Acarbose or (Precose in US, Glucobay in Europe, Prandase in Canada) is prescribed for treating Type 2 diabetes. It can be combined with other diabetes medicines and it is used for lower blood sugar since it can prevent the breakdown of starch into sugar when eating food.
In book, A Quick Understanding on What Doctors Are Prescribing: Pharmacology for Everyday People & Finding Alternative Medications , it described that acarbose works by competiting against carbohydrates found in food supposedly binding to enzyme in order to be digested, but now the place of binding is blocked by acarbose. As a result, less carbohydrate will be broken down into glucose molecules and sugar level in the blood will not be dramatically increased.
However, the side effect occurs when undigested carbohydrates were left in the colon and other bacteria will digest them which then caused gastrointestinal side effects. In addition, it is possible for patients to experience hypoglycaemia (low blood sugar) if their food do not have monosaccharide.
In book, A Quick Understanding on What Doctors Are Prescribing: Pharmacology for Everyday People & Finding Alternative Medications , it described that acarbose works by competiting against carbohydrates found in food supposedly binding to enzyme in order to be digested, but now the place of binding is blocked by acarbose. As a result, less carbohydrate will be broken down into glucose molecules and sugar level in the blood will not be dramatically increased.
However, the side effect occurs when undigested carbohydrates were left in the colon and other bacteria will digest them which then caused gastrointestinal side effects. In addition, it is possible for patients to experience hypoglycaemia (low blood sugar) if their food do not have monosaccharide.
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