Researchers work to understand the effects of metformin.
Type 2 diabetics must keep their blood sugar under control to maintain their best health, but controlling it with diet alone can be challenging. Some diabetics choose to take metformin, a prescription medication which decreases the amount of sugar both made and absorbed in the body. According to the Mayo Clinic, metformin is available as either a liquid or a tablet, and is only available with a prescription. Researchers have sought to identify additional uses for metformin related to cancer prevention, weight control and the treatment of polycystic ovary syndrome.
Metformin versus Insulin
A 2008 study in "The New England Journal of Medicine" compared the effects of treatment with insulin and treatment with metformin in pregnant women with gestational diabetes. Insulin commonly causes weight gain, but metformin does not. In the study, which included 751 women between the ages of 18 and 45, both insulin and metformin were shown to be equally valuable at keeping blood sugar levels consistent and hypertension diminished. Researchers measured blood glucose levels in the test subjects' newborns to test for low blood sugar, a sign that the mother's blood sugar was not under control. While 8.1 percent of infants in the insulin group had blood sugar levels below the acceptable baseline, only 3.3 percent of infants in the metformin group had low blood sugar. When asked which treatment they would prefer, 76 percent of the women chose metformin.
Prevention of Diabetes in Women with a History of Gestational Diabetes
A 2008 study published in the "Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism" aimed to find out whether metformin could prevent the onset of diabetes by assessing data about the histories of 2,190 women. Researchers used subjects who had been diagnosed with gestational diabetes in the past, since those with gestational diabetes are more prone to develop diabetes later in life. Researchers found that metformin combined with lifestyle intervention is more effective at delaying or preventing the onset of diabetes than lifestyle intervention alone.
Cancer Risk
In 2005, the "British Medical Journal" reported that metformin may reduce the risk of cancer in patients with type 2 diabetes. By analyzing the medical records of almost 1,000 cancer patients, researchers found a dose-dependent relationship for metformin use and decreased cancer risk. To strengthen the study, they controlled for confounding factors, other factors that could have decreased the incidence of cancer. The researchers suggested that a large-scale, long-term study should be done before metformin is given to patients with the intention of inhibiting tumor growth.
Weight Loss in Women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome
Metformin is sometimes used to treat symptoms of polycystic ovary syndrome, a condition whose symptoms can be mediated by weight loss. In 2000, "The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism" published a study on the effect of metformin on the body weight of 35 obese women with and without polycystic ovary syndrome. For six months, some women from each group were given a daily dose of either metformin or a placebo. All women were put on a very low calorie diet for the duration of the study. Among women both with and without polycystic ovary syndrome, those taking metformin experienced a greater decrease in the amount of body fat and their overall body weight than those taking the placebo.
Tags: blood sugar, ovary syndrome, polycystic ovary, polycystic ovary syndrome, with gestational, with gestational diabetes