SAN ANTONIO -- It's the leading authority on diabetes treatment, and for years the American Diabetes Association has supported what's called the ADA algorithm.

The ADA algorithm is a treatment regimen for Type 2 diabetics that begins with pushing lifestyle changes like reducing weight and increasing exercise.

If that doesn't work, a drug called Metformin is introduced, and if that doesn't work, a drug from a class called sulfonylureas is next and then Insulin.

While this regimen has been used for years, Dr. Ralph DeFronzo, a world renowned diabetes researcher with the Texas Diabetes Institute, is working to prove there is a better way to treat Type 2 diabetes.

"We know this [the algorithm] doesn't work," said DeFronzo. "A 15-year study, and ten other studies in which people have looked long term at sulfonylureas and Metformin, ... fail every year."

DeFronzo said instead, doctors should be using two drugs that have proved more successful in keeping glucose levels down for an extended period of time. One drug is from a class called thiazolidinediones and the other is a GLP-1 agonist.

DeFronzo took his suggestion to the ADA and, in a surprise move, the association agreed to fund a study DeFronzo is now heading up at the Texas Diabetes Institute.

The study will follow the two treatment paths side by side in hundreds of patients for three years. The goal is to see which is more effective in treating Type 2 diabetes.

DeFronzo said he's certain his treatment regimen will come out ahead.

"I guarantee you it will never be refuted," said DeFronzo.

The association issued a statement in regards to DeFronzo's study.

"Dr. Ralph DeFronzo submitted a grant application to the American Diabetes Association. The American Diabetes Association's Peer Review Panel awarded Dr. Ralph DeFronzo a Clinical Research Grant for the study after concluding his application was meritorius. The results of the study have not yet been found. The American Diabetes Association looks forward to the findings."

If you want to try and join the study, you can call the Texas Diabetes Institute at 210-358-7200.

You must be a newly diagnosed Type 2 diabetic.