metformin

[maryspain]

hi, just wondering if anybody could help me, im type1 on 26 units of insulin a day & also take 1 metformin a day. i have been told that metformin is a muscle wasting drug is this correct. many thanks.

 

[sugarless sue]

I'm not sure about that,Mary but metformin was originally developed as a weight loss pill,it was then discovered that it helped type 2 diabetes.

 

[Dennis]

Hi Mary, I don't know who told you that, but the effects of metformin on muscle tissue have been tested fairly recently (2005) and metformin was found to have the exact opposite effect. There are links between hyperglycemia and muscle loss following severe injury. In patients suffering severe burn trauma, treatment with metformin to reduce the hyperglycemia was found to significantly reduce muscle loss.

 

[martinbuchan]

metformin probably has its effects thru reduction of glucose production by the liver (gluconeogenesis). Type 2s have 3 times the normal rate of this. MF effects on muscle are now thought to be minimal. Another use is in polycycstic ovary disease (which helps reverse the associated weight gain as well). MF has been shown to reduce cardiovascular mortality in diabetics as well.

There is not a great basis for using MF in type 1 diabetes unless you have developed insulin resistance as well (quite common over a long time).