Since the 1950s, metformin has been used for the diabetes treatment along with the changes in lifestyle such as consuming a low carbohydrate diet and doing a consistent physical activity daily. Normally, when you eat or drink, the glucose (sugar) will be carried by your blood to the cells in your body that later will be converted to be used for energy. The role of the insulin is to get the glucose out of your bloodstream and be transferred into your body cells. In type-2 diabetes, your blood sugar levels will rise up and you will be in hyperglycemia, that is usually because either your body does not react with insulin as it should or because there is not enough insulin produced by your body to keep up with the high sugar levels in your body. As a result, high sugar levels will cause some damage to your nerves, eyes, blood vessels in the body, and kidneys as well as increasing the risk for you to get heart diseases, heart attacks, and strokes.
Metformin was classified under a drug class called biguanide. It works by lowering the levels of sugar (glucose) in your blood by blocking gluconeogenesis, the process which results in glucose production by the liver. Besides that, research done shows that metformin may also enhance your muscle tissue’s ability and lower your blood sugar levels by removing glucose from the bloodstream which then will be used for energy. In addition, metformin also lowers your blood sugar levels by stimulating the good bacteria that populate in your gut to use more glucose. It will also stimulate your body’s insulin sensitivity, the ability of the body to respond to the hormone insulin. But metformin does not work in type 1 diabetes as type 1 diabetes is mainly because your body does not produce insulin at all. Based on the American Diabetes Association (ADA), after you have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, the doctors will likely prescribe you with metformin besides advising you to get a regular physical activity and always consuming a healthy diet daily.
Back in 1995, metformin was approved by the U.S. Like many other drugs, metformin however is used in some particular situations that are not FDA-approved uses, for examples:
- Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS): Statistics shows that PCOS affects approximately 10% of women and has become the most common female endocrine related disease. Women that were diagnosed with this disorder will have irregular menstrual, high levels of male hormone (androgen), increase in body weight, growth of hair at the face, and resistance to the insulin which means that your body does not react to the insulin as it should. By consuming metformin, it will help women with PCOS to become more sensitive to the insulin that will lead to lower your blood glucose level and help you to lose some weight.
- Gestational Diabetes: During pregnancy, some women may get diabetes called gestational diabetes. Usually, the doctors will treat this disorder by changing their lifestyle and diet modifications, but in some cases, medications may be needed. Gestational diabetes usually disappears after the baby is delivered, but there is higher risk for you to get type 2 diabetes in the future. So, the best option to be offered to the women with gestational diabetes is metformin as it is both safe and effective for the mother.
- Prediabetes: if your blood glucose levels in the blood are increasing, but it is not high enough to be called diabetes, then it will be classified as prediabetes. In this condition, taking metformin is the best way to reach your goal that is to control your blood sugar levels from getting worse and turning completely into diabetes.
- Preventing weight gain caused by antipsychotic medications: Basically, psychiatric patients with schizophrenia or other psychotic disorders are often given with antipsychotic drugs, such as clozapine, risperidone and olanzapine. Although these drugs can help with psychotic disorders, they will give side effects of weight gain. In order to prevent the associated weight gain that later will lead to obesity and heart disease, metformin can be given to the patient that is currently on these medications as a precaution.
