Date of Award
2018
Document Type
Scholarly Project
Degree Name
Master of Physician Assistant Studies (MPAS)
Department
Physician Assistant Studies
Keywords
type two diabetes mellitus; T2DM; glycosylated hemoglobin; HbA1c metformin; low carbohydrate diet
Abstract
In this study, a low carbohydrate diet and metformin pharmacotherapy were compared to determine their effect on HbA1c in the type two diabetic patient. Several high quality studies were examined along with each treatment's effect on mainly HbA1c, but also other parameters such as body weight, cholesterol, and fasting and post prandial blood glucose levels. The study showed that both the low carbohydrate diet and metformin pharmacotherapy were effective at lowering HbA1c in the type two diabetic patient. The low carbohydrate diet showed a 0.2% increase in HbA1c all the way to a 2.2% decrease in baseline HbA1c in the studies that were examined. The metformin pharmacotherapy showed between a 0.45% decrease up to a greater than 1% decrease from baseline HbA1c in the studies examined within this project. After looking at the other parameters that were affected by each treatment, it was concluded that choosing treatment between the two options studied will be highly dependent on each individual patient and their readiness and willingness to implement lifestyle changes. Both methods of treatment are equally as effective and can be beneficial to different patients.
Recommended Citation
Schultz, Ashley, "Comparing the Effectiveness of a Low Carbohydrate Diet and Metformin on Glycosylated Hemoglobin Reduction in Type Two Diabetes Mellitus" (2018). Physician Assistant Scholarly Project Papers. 23.
https://commons.und.edu/pas-grad-papers/23