Treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Although most patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus can be initially managed with diet and exercise alone, most eventually require at least oral agents if not insulin to maintain glycemic control. Appropriate therapeutic regimens may be difficult to design, given the diversity of drugs available for clinical use. Physicians must consider not only glycemic control, but also patient preference, concomitant medical conditions, and cost when designing therapeutic regimens.