Table 1. Benefits and Harms of Currently Available Drugs for Type 2 Diabetes .

	Insulin	Metformin	SU/Glinides	AGI	TZD (Pioglitazone)	DPP-4 Inhibitors	GLP-1 Agonists
Short-term efficacy on glucose	+++	++	++	+	+/++	+	++
Long-term efficacy on glucose	+++	++	+	+	++	?	?
Risk of hypoglycemia	+++	-	++	-	-	-	-
Effect on body weight	↑ ↑	-/ ↓	↑	-/ ↓	↑ ↑	-	↓ ↓
Effect on cardiovascular risk	-	-/ ↓	↑ (?)	-/ ↓	↓	↓ (?)	↓ (?)
Gastrointestinal side effects	-	++	-	++	-	-	++
Other adverse events	+a	-	-	-	++b	-	+c
Need for regular SMBG	+++	-	+	-	-	-	-
Cost (including that for SMBG)	+++	+	++	+	++	++	+++
Impact on quality of life	+++	+	+	++	++	+	++

^aPotential risk of cancer

^bheart failure, bone fractures, bladder cancer

^cpotential risk of pancreatitis

Abbbreviaions: SU, sufonlylureas; AGI, alpha glucosidase inhibitors; TZD, thiazolidinediones; DPP-4, dipeptidyl peptidase 4; GLP-1, glucagon-like peptide-1; SMBG, self-monitoring of blood glucose