Metformin: role and how effective is it in diabetes?
Metformin is a normoglycemicantidiabetic. You can buy metformin as the treatment of choice for type 2 diabetes. What is the role of metformin? How effective is it in the treatment of diabetes, and what are the metformin alternatives, let’s explore this in this article.
Definition: what is metformin?
Metformin is a drug belonging to the biguanide family. It is a normoglycemicantidiabetic, taken orally, which is the drug of first choice in the management of type 2 diabetes ( non-insulin-dependent diabetes ), after lifestyle and dietary measures have been introduced but without being sufficient. Metformin is used alone as monotherapy or in combination with other antidiabetic drugs. This drug is one of the oldest antidiabetics on the market, and it is still the treatment of choice in type 2 diabetes today.
What is the role of metformin?
You can buy metformin online, in particular, to reduce the production of glucose by the liver, increase its uptake and its use by peripheral muscle cells, and increase sensitivity to insulin which reduces the phenomenon of insulin resistance.
Indeed, under the effect of insulin, the level of glucose in the blood decreases (it is stored in the tissues or metabolized into glycogen). In some diabetics, and particularly in obese or overweight patients, insulin resistance may develop, i.e. the insulin is no longer sufficiently effective, and the cells no longer (or less) respond to his action. Under the effect of metformin, the cells again become more sensitive to insulin, which helps reduce glucose levels in the blood. However, unlike other oral antidiabetics, metformin does not cause hypoglycemia because it does not act on the production of insulin, which gives this drug an additional advantage. Metformin also decreases the intestinal resorption of glucose.
How effective on diabetes?
The metformin uk supplements can be used in the treatment of choice for type 2 diabetes. It has the advantage of reducing basal but also post-prandial (after a meal) glycaemia, and it makes it possible to reduce the level of glycatedhaemoglobin, the main marker of diabetes, in order to control its progression.
Metformin exerts its antidiabetic action without causing weight gain. It also has the advantage of significantly reducing complications related to type 2 diabetes and particularly cardiovascular risks.Metformin is recommended as first-line therapy by health authorities because of its proven efficacy in the management of type 2 diabetes and in reducing the occurrence of complications related to this pathology.
What to replace metformin with?
When metformin cannot be prescribed (due, for example, to intolerance or a contraindication), it can be replaced by other oral antidiabetic drugs such as sulfonylureas (beware in this case of the risk of hypoglycaemia) or by alpha-glucosidase inhibitors. These treatments can thus be prescribed as monotherapy if it is impossible to use metformin. The other drugs on the market, which are newer on the market, are, for the most part, not particularly first-line drugs or monotherapy. Some of them must also be prescribed as dual therapy or triple therapy in combination with metformin or sulfonylurea. They are also more expensive, with some coming in injectable form.
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