Diabetes has been known since antiquity. In fact, the term “diabetes mellitus” comes from the Greek meaning “siphon and honey” due to the excess excretion (siphon or faucet) of hyperglycemic (sweetened, or honeyed) urine associated with diabetes. In ancient times, diabetes was mostly type I, which usually manifests acutely in the young, secondary to certain underlying insults (possibly infections) to the islet cells of the pancreas resulting in an absolute lack of insulin. Insulin was discovered by Banting and Best in 1921, and insulin injection has literally saved millions of lives since then. With the wondrous efficacy that insulin bestows, type I diabetes is largely controlled because type I diabetes is insulindependent. However, type II diabetes, a more prevalent form of diabetes, is not insulin-dependent. In ancient times, when nutrition was scarce and obesity was not prevalent, type II diabetes mellitus (T2DM) was extremely rare. Indeed, type II diabetes is a disease more frequently associated with maturity, obesity, and gradually increasing blood glucose concentrations, and it may be asymptomatic for some time, only discovered on routine glucose screening. In fact, with the increasing body weight of the general population of the developed world, type II diabetes is becoming an epidemic. Serious complications of diabetes include nephropathy (kidney diseases), neuropathy (nerve damage), and retinopathy (blindness). Diabetes is the most common cause of blindness and amputation in the elderly in the United States. Oral diabetes drugs are required for most type II diabetic patients. Diabetes drugs may be classified into four categories: (a) agents that augment the supply of insulin such as sulfonylureas; (b) agents that enhance the effectiveness of insulin such as biguanides and thiazolidinediones; (c) GLP agonists; and (d) DPP4 Inhibitors. The efficacy of all the antidiabetic drugs can be monitored by measuring glycosylated hemoglobin (HaA1c) as a long term marker of elevated blood glucose. The amount of HaA1c reflects the average level over the last 120 days, the life span of a red blood cell, and should remain below 7%.