Over a dozen years ago, when I was a medical student, treatment of type 2 diabetes was very simple. There was only one family of oral diabetes medicine -- sulfonylureas. In patients for whom the sulfonylureas failed, the only option was insulin injections. Sulfonylureas suffer from two serious side effects. They cause weight gain, an especially frustrating problem since weight loss is so important in diabetes. They can also cause blood sugar levels to become too low (hypoglycemia) which can have...