Obesity continues to escalate in the United States, and with that comes a variety of health problems. Type 2 diabetes is prevalent among them. This silent disease is said to affect more than 29 million adults and over 5, 000 youths under the age of 20. Diabetes ranks in the top ten causes of death in the country coming in at 7th place. Metformin has been the primary drug of choice to treat Type 2 diabetes for many years. In 1957 Jean Sterne, a French physician was the first to report using it to treat diabetes.
Staying Power
Though other drugs have been created to be used against type 2 diabetes, metformin remains the primary drug of choice. It is the first-line oral blood-glucose-lowering agent used due to its low incidence of side effects. Similar drugs such as phenformin and buformin were used for a few decades before the high incidences of lactic acidosis caused them to be discontinued. Metformin, on the other hand, has been used successfully in the UK for over 50 years. It became available in the US for diabetes treatment in 1995.
How Metformin Works to Help Type 2 Diabetes
Insulin resistance is one of the main factors in type 2 diabetes. This happens when insulin is not used as it should be by the body. Normally sugar is moved from foods into the cells of the body. The sugar provides energy for the body to perform its functions. Insulin resistance inhibits the uptake of sugar and leaves too much of it in the bloodstream. High blood sugar levels eventually cause problems with other organs of the body such as the heart and kidneys.
Metformin helps by causing cells in the body to be more receptive to insulin. At the same time this drug lowers the amount of sugar that is being produced by the liver. Because it acts on the liver, people with liver or kidney problems should not use metformin. People who are seriously ill and those who have heart problems should also not use it.
Metformin can restore healthy levels of blood sugar or lower them to non-diabetic levels. Using this drug should eliminate low blood sugar. It does have some side effects. These include diarrhea and stomach cramping. If metformin is used along with an insulin releasing medication there is a chance that you may experience low blood sugar.
Ongoing Clinical Studies
The FDA has rigorous standards when it comes to testing drugs for human use. Even though metformin has been around for decades, it is still used in clinical trials to test its efficacy against other glucose inhibiting drugs. Clinical studies are important because it is only though these studies that the medical field can discover the medicines and procedures that will help people stay healthy.
If you are interested in participating in a clinical study, contact us at DM Clinical Research. We are committed to helping find the medicines to treat and cure disease. Call to find out what studies we have going on. You may just help us find a cure for type 2 diabetes or another health issue.