Metformin is a drug known to be primarily prescribed for diabetic people. But this kind of drug has been discovered to be effective for losing weight also. So, overweight patients with diabetes can possibly loss some weight when they take this kind of drug. This is the reason why metformin weight loss becomes popular for diabetic people. Metformin is sold under the brand names of Glucophage and Glucophage XR.
Metformin lowers the blood insulin levels and aid patients control the levels of blood glucose. This makes is advantageous for people that has Type II diabetes, in particular those overweight Type II diabetes people. However, this benefits also those who are simply overweight. How do metformin lowers the blood insulin levels? This is trough decreasing the absorption of carbohydrates through the intestines. It decreases the glucose production in the liver and increases the sensitivity of muscles cells to insulin. This kind was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, but for use only as medication for diabetes not for weight loss. It is known also that metformin can lessen acne, restore the women menstrual cycle with PCOS or polycystic ovary syndrome, increase the chance of pregnancy for women that have PCOS, and lessen the risk of miscarriage.
When you eat it will cause your blood glucose to increase. This increase causes the body to produce more insulin. The insulin is the one that will make you feel hungry that will cause you to eat more. This will also make your liver to produce fat. If you can maintain your insulin levels from increasing, you can lessen hunger pains and fat production and storage. To decreases the insulin is the main function of metformin drug. When does this kind of drug doesn’t work? When you eat foods that increase rapidly your blood glucose level, this drug will not be effective for losing weight. This is because the rapid increase causes your body to make insulin before the drug can give any effect. Also, not all the tests show consistently weight loss utilizing metformin. But all the tests prove that this drug is somehow effective in preventing more weight gain.
This kind of drug is available in 500mg, 850 mg, and 1,000 mg tablets. The normal does of this is 850 to 1,000 mg twice per day. 850 mg is the maximum safe does that will be taken for there times a day. Glucophage XR is the extended-release tablet that will let the patient to just take one pill per day. Patients normally begin with a low dose to find out how this drug gives effect. The doctor will increase the does gradually if there’s needed greater decrease in insulin.
These are just the information about metformin weight loss that you must know. It is best to consult your doctor if you should take this drug for weight loss. If you are prescribed with this metformin you must have a metabolic assessment before you take this drug and recheck it once a year.
Metformin lowers glucose in blood concentration by various methods. Its most essential influence is to improve insulin sensitivity in peripheral tissues, especially the skeletal and liver muscles. Buy increasing insulin action on the liver, metformin prevents glucose release and production. It also excites insulin uptake by skeletal muscle. It might have indirect or direct influence on reducing appetite.
The United Kingdom PDS included a sub group of overweight people who were allocated to treatment with metformin, sulphonylureas (chlorpropamide or glibenclamide) or insulin therapy. Only metformin therapy was associated with improved insulin sensitivity and reduced circulating concentrations of insulin.
Reduced insulin resistance would be expected to improve cardiovascular risk and indeed, the UKPDS showed that metformin had the greatest effects on any diabetes related end points, on overall mortality due to any cause and also on the incidence of stroke. The UKPDS also reported that, in overweight people, metformin was not associated with weight gain and produced fewer hypoglycaemic attacks than sulphonylureas or insulin therapy. It is therefore recommended that metformin is used as first line treatment in overweight people if lifestyle changes fail to improve diabetic control.
Metformin is likely to reduce blood glucose concentration by two to three mmol per litre when prescribed for people in whom diet has failed. This is comparable blood glucose lowering effect to sulphonylureas. About 30 percent of people so treated will achieve good diabetic control. However, in a further five to ten percent of people per year, metformin treatment will fail to achieve adequate control.
Metformin is available as 500 to 850 mg tablets. The drug should be taken with meals and the dose increased gradually to lessen side effects of metformin. A typical starting dose would be 850 mg once daily or 500 mg once or twice daily. The dosage can be increased in a stepwise fashion over a period of several weeks to prevent adverse drug effects. Some scientists proved that metformin lowered HbA1c and fasting blood glucose in a dose related manner up to 2000 mg per day. Beyond this dosage there is little therapeutic gain but a much higher incidence of side effects.
The most common side effects of metformin are gastrointestinal in origin. Abut twenty percent of people experience diarrhoea, flatulence or abdominal pain, whereas others complain of a metallic taste, nausea or anorexia. Although a reduction in appetite might be desirable in the overweight person, for the sake of compliance any nausea or anorexia must be considered seriously. These disturbances are generally transient and can be minimized by starting treatment at a low dosage and taking the drug with food.
Metformin can cause the blood lactate levels to rise. However, if it is prescribed taking into account recognized contraindications , there is no increased risk of serious lactic acidosis or increased levels of lactate compared to other antihyperglycamic agents. Metformin is normally excreted through the kidneys and is contraindicated in people with impaired renal function as this can result in accumulation of the drug in the body, enhancing the effect on lactate production.
In an era of raging competition when everyone wants to be ahead of the world there is no women or man who does not want to be slim and fit. We are in the world where there is a struggle to survive every minute. No one has time to stand and stare. There is no time with people to concentrate on a regulate their eating habits. A busy wife, who has to find the right balance between her professional and personal life, has hardly any time to concentrate on the nutrition levels contained in the food that she serves to her family every day. But as it is rightly said that, health is wealth one has to be attentive towards maintaining one´s body shape.
The way you live, the food you eat and the way you think affects you health. It also has an affect on your body. Moreover, a healthy body with the right weight never becomes a victim of any disease. It is always wise to maintain the weight that is apt for you according to your sex, age and height. Once you become overweight or obese it is always an arduous task to get that slim body back.
Exercising and dieting are just simple fast weight loss tips to look at. But, when you have to actually to do that it involves up early, doing those extra sit ups daily, bearing that body pain and discomfort when you initially start exercising, saying a strict no that yummy cheese pizza etc. However, we can make weight loss a fun for you. The foods those are nutritious but not bland, the fun ways to make your exercise sessions and the other ways to lose weight have been illustrated in this article. This is the reason why everyone aiming at making the weight loss process easy and fun must get it.
If you have been worrying about your clothes getting tighter and tighter, the sarcastic remarks from your friends and foes about your face getting chubbier or pot belly, getting obesity related diseases then it is time for you to flex up your body. For fast weight loss tip, there are no short cuts. Weight loss pills, crash diets, powders, drinks, fat burning supplements, laxatives and fitness gadgets are all the short cuts that most of the people use to lose weight. But unfortunately these short cuts reduce weight only on a short time and may have side effects.
There might be chances that after you stop using them you may gain weight. Hence it is always best to go for methods that might not give instant results but may help you reduce weight for a long term and also nourish your body.
If weight loss is your aim then do not get for short cuts. Give some time and effort towards your weight loss schedule can give you long lasting efforts. But, before you begin there are some concepts and facts that you need to aware of.
Before spending your money on potent and pills as well as wasting you precious time trying to find the perfect solution for weight loss.. let´s see some basic facts about why we gain weight and we lose weight.
Three most common disease which cause weight gain are depression, cushing´s syndrome and hypothyroidism. Some of the medications such as steroid medications, anti-depressants, certain high blood pressure drugs and seizure medications can cause over body weight. These conditions that are responsible for your weight gain can successfully be determined by a doctor.
Metformin has effective ingredient which are identified and isolated. This constituent belongs to a section of medicaments called the biguanide. Metformin abides of two associated guanidine rings. Although it has been employed to cured type II diabetes for more than three decades the right mechanisms of action stay more or less a puzzle and it is only currently that the researchers have been capable to diagnose the same. Metformin has lots of different influences on glucose metabolism. Because of this there is increased insulin sensitivity in tissues like liver and muscles.
The benefits of metformin also combine decrease in the synthesis of glucose or gluconeogenesis from noncarbohydrate resource of liver. The total influence of metformin enables to lower levels of glucose. But because this medicament is a euglycaemic agent, glucose levels of blood do not fall below normal and therefore the synthesis of glucose episodes do not happen. It also have different advantages on lipid metabolism and therefore the falling of circulating fatty acids happens. It also enables to lower VLDL which is also combined in provoking cardiovascular ailments like circulation of fatty acids.
There are lots of reasons for being obese one reason is insulin. The fat in the form of insulin is kept primarily in your belly. As the patient takes food, the level of sugar in blood rises. The more the level of insulin shoots, the more insulin is let out in the pancreas. Insulin can make you obese by working on the hypothalamus to aggravate hunger signs. This drives to the liver developing fat cells and fat in the belly to fill with fat. The great method to cure this form of weight gain is to get rid of foods that provoke the highest rise in the blood sugar. Taking medicaments that stop hike of blood sugar levels from is also prescribed.
All sorts of bakery items, foods made from flour, fruit juice, pastas and items with added sugar must be avoided. Root vegetables and fruits such as potatoes must be consumed only with meals. The sugar taken by the physique comes to intestines via the blood, and into the liver.
Metformin carries glucophage which lowers sugar disclose from the liver to reach the levels of blood sugar and shoot them too high. Since the body does not need to generate as much insulin that make you hungry. Though the liver doesn´t transform sugar to fat. There are different other advantages of Metformin aside from treating diabetes and it is shedding weight. But this treatment is not productive when the blood is acidic because of excess lactic acid.
Metformin aids in reducing levels of insulin which are really beneficial in treating diabetes. This medicament is also a productive cure for various sorts of diabetes. Since it works at the base of the problem it aids to fight insulin resistance and also delays and prevents the onset of type II diabetes which drives to insulin resistance and impaired glucose tolerance. It also enables to lower danger of diabetes related strokes, heart attacks, death and various other ailments.
Weight shed with diabetes can be examined at in 2 types. It can be deliberate weight shed, and also unintentional weight shed. Certain times when the patient is obese, as it may happen with some individuals, they can certainly shed weight as desire. But for people who are shedding weight otherwise, it is not a quiet staunch sign.
The resistance of insulin should be lowered in the body of the patient with diabetic. Generally tissues have to be metabolized, and for this purpose insulin is required, to aid glucose insinuate the tissues. Certain times the tissues will be impervious, and then the insulin levels have to be improved for the metabolizing to occur. It will also become hard to shed weight if the levels of insulin shoot in the body.
With patients with diabetic, the levels of sugar are high. Due to this, they will wish to pass urine quite a few times. The process will normally result in dehydration. Due to this procedure, they will like to shed weight. The patients will have to cope up with the dehydration by increasing the intake of water. If the levels of sugar are also high, there will be a formulation in the muscles.
When this process occurs the patient will like to shed weight. For people who are interested in weight shed, if they are diabetic, there are lots of plans to carry out the same. A expert´s suggestion should always be sought when one desires to begin with a weight loss plan if diabetic. Some patients may love to shed weight, and they will take their own fortitude, but that is not considered as an excellent plan.
The diet is really essential when it comes to shed weight for people who have diabetes. They should ensure that it is very well balanced. A specialist of nutrition can be sought of this purpose. They will supply the individual the ratio of proteins, fat and carbohydrates to handle with. This has to be depleted on a constant basis every day.
With diabetic patients, they shouldn’t begin regulate carbohydrate content. If they carry out so, they will be providing an opportunity for the fat to being igniting. Weight shed will not happen if the carbohydrate are just cut down. They will have to be reduce gradually over a duration of time. The amount of calories taken per day should also be examined.
It is really essential to take the right kind of food at the right time. Just eating too much or skipping food at the same time will not aid. The food should be taken in small amount over time, and they should also be well planned. This is the excellent method that one can keep the weight when it comes to diabetes.
The sugar amount will also have to be verified in the blood. Too much sugar can be actually hard and this will certainly influence the weight of the patient. Thus all drinks and food with sugar should be avoided and maintained in the right manner.
Glucophage is government -approved for treatment of type 2 diabetes but is currently used “off-label” for weight loss by some obesity-medicine experts. This medication improves glycemic control and increases insulin sensitivity in diabetic patients. Theoretically, by decreasing hyperinsulinemia and insulin resistance, metformin decreases lipogenesis and increases lipolysis, thus promoting weight loss. In short- and long-term studies, it was shown to result in decreased food consumption and weight loss in adults with obesity and type 2 diabetes. By extension, Glucophage is also being used as treatment for women with PCOS.
Because of documented weight-loss success in individuals with type 2 diabetes and PCOS, Glucophage is now being studied as treatment for obese individuals without these comorbidities.
One randomized trial demonstrated that metformin, compared to placebo, and a hypo caloric diet led to a greater reduction in subjects body weight, BMI, and visceral adipose tissue in women with abdominal obesity, with and without PCOS.31 The Diabetes Prevention Program study compared lifestyle-intervention results to those of Glucophage and of placebo on the progression to diabetes among patients with glucose intolerance. This study revealed that patients taking metformin maintained an approximate 2-kg weight loss after 4 years, a result that was not as effective as lifestyle intervention but was significantly greater than sustained weight loss with placebo. Another clinical trial— comparing 6-month results in subjects with obesity who are taking sibutramine, orlistat, or metformin—demonstrated similar weight reduction for Glucophage and orlistat (9.9% and 9.1%, respectively), with greater weight reduction seen with sibutramine (13.6%). All 3 medications led to improvement in insulin resistance, lipid profile, and blood pressure.
Data also suggests that metformin can be effective in the treatment of obese adolescents. A randomized trial of metformin in 24 hyperinsulinemic, non diabetic adolescents with obesity demonstrated greater weight loss, decreased body fat, and enhanced insulin sensitivity with metformin (850 mg twice a day) after 8 weeks.34 Another study of 29 adolescents with obesity, hyperinsulinemia, and family history of type 2 diabetes showed a small reduction of BMI in those treated with metformin (500 mg twice a day) for 6 months, whereas those given placebo had an increase in BMI. Based on these findings, some obesity specialists have started to prescribe low dose Glucophage for treatment of obesity. Clinical observation has shown the drug to be particularly effective for treatment of psychotropic induced weight gain.
Most published studies of metformin for obesity treatment are small and relatively short-term; however, preliminary results are promising, especially for use in adolescents where pharmacologic-treatment options are more limited than they are for adults. Clearly, larger long-term studies are needed to demonstrate a sustained effect of Glucophage on weight loss as well as to determine the optimal dose of treatment. Patients using the drug for obesity at this time should understand and agree to the “off-label” circumstances and should be followed closely for any possible adverse effects.
Unlike the insulin secretagogues and the thiazolidinediones, metformin therapy does not result in weight gain in patients with T2DM who receive metformin alone or in combination with other oral agents or insulin. Most researches prove moderate weight loss (2-3 kg) during the first six months of therapy. Metformin therapy is also associated with weight loss in non-diabetic subjects. The exact mechanisms by which metformin presents weight gain or induces weight loss haw not been determined. Several mechanisms have been postulated by which metformin might prevent weight gain or induce weight loss. These include a decrease in food consumption, increase in energy expenditure, and reduction of hypcinsulinemia. Some animal studies suggest an anorectic effect, but in human studies, it has not been possible to differentiate between a cental effect of metformin in decreasing calorie intake versus an increase in energy expenditure. Incidentally, in non-diabetic and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) subjects, metformin therapy is associated with a reduction in leptin levels and restoration of menses.
In addition to its glycemic effects, metformin is known to have favorable effects on plasma lipids. in both diabetic and non-diabetic subjects. As mono-therapy, metformin decreases plasma triglyceride and LDL cholesterol levels by 10-15% and also reduces post-prandial hyperlipemia, plasma FFA levels, and FFA oxidation. The decrease in plasma triglyceride concentration is independent of changes in the plasma glucose level since metformin reduces triglyceride levels in non-diabetic patients with hypetiglyceidcmia. Metformin therapy does not appear to affect HDL cholesterol levels consistently, which either do not change or increase slightly after metformin therapy.
In some clinical studies, metformin treatment has been associated
with a modest drop in blood pressure in patients with T2DM.
However, most studies have failed to demonstrate any decrease in
systemic blood pressure with metformin treatment. Insulin
resistance is known to be associated with a hyper coagulable
state: and an increase in many cardiovascular risk factors,
including PAI-I. Metformin has many beneficial effects on
cardiovascular risk. Elevated PAI-1 levels are decreased with
metformin therapy in patients with and without diabetes. In the
French Biguanides and the Prevention of the Risk of Obesity
(BIGPRO) 1 trial, metformin therapy also reduced tissue-type
plasminogen activator (tPA) antigen and von Willebrand factor
(vWF) levels. These two factors are mainly secreted by
endothelial cells,
and metformin therapy appeared to have suppressive effects on the
production or metabolism of these two hemostatic proteins. In
another 18-month study, metformin treatment in elderly T2DM
patients was associated with significant reductions in markers of
platelet function, thrombin generation, and fibrinolysis
inhibition (PAI-I activity, PAI-1 antigen). However, in this
study, increases in some fibrinolytic activation markers
were also observed.
The long-term effects of metformin on serum lipids and other
metabolic risk factors appear to have cardiovascular benefits. In
the UKPDS, metformin therapy in obese, newly diagnosed patients
with T2DM was associated with a significant decrease in
cardiovascular and all-cause mortality. Whether this benefit with
metformin treatment was due to the absence of weight gain or
other beneficial effects on the metabolic syndrome of diabetes
remains to
be determined.
Metformin HCL, a biguanide, has been used in the treatment of type 2 diabetes since the 1960s. Its mechanism of action has been studied extensively, and although many metabolic effects have been described in in vitro systems and animal models, the molecular and biochemical sites of action have eluded discovery. Metformin HCL exerts several physiologic effects that contribute to its ability to decrease hyperglycemia in patients with type 2 diabetes.
Patients taking metformin frequently complain of a metallic taste and often have some degree of anorexia. Treatment of patients with type 2 diabetes is usually associated with a mean weight loss of 2 to 3 kg, which is due primarily to a decease in adipose tissue.
This effect has been obscured in some studies by confounding weight gain associated with improved glycemic control and a reduction in glycosuria. Though not well documented, the weight loss usually is associated with a decease in appetite. Recent studies show that the percent reduction in the visceral adipose tissue depot is significantly greater than that in the subcutaneous or total adipose tissue pool. The ability of metformin to increase insulin mediated glucose disposal in skeletal muscle appears to be at best quite modest.
Those studies, however, did not control for weight loss or
reduction in glucose toxicity resulting from improved glycemic
control. Several subsequent studies in which weight
loss was not a factor failed to show a significant effect of
metformin HCL on insulin-mediated glucose uptake in peripheral
tissues. Two more recent studies, which were specifically
designed to eliminate changes in weight and differences in
glycemic control, found no effect and a small increase in
insulin-mediated peripheral glucose uptake, respectively. In
contrast, all well-designed studies have shown marked effects of
metformin in deceasing the elevated hepatic glucose production
that is associated with fasting hyperglycemia. The decease in
hepatic glucose production by metformin HCL appears to be due
primarily to a decease in gluconeogenesis, although thee is some
contribution from a decease in glycogenolysis.
Administration of metformin HCL has been shown to lower plasma levels of fee fatty acids and to increase lipid oxidation in some, but not all, studies. The effects on lipid metabolism are modest and not likely to play a major role in deceasing hepatic glucose production. Metformin HCL has no direct effects on pancreatic beta-cells and does not influence insulin secretion directly but only through its influences on changing plasma glucose levels.
Metformin HCL is incompletely and slowly absorbed from the small
intestine, with a bio-availability of 50% to 60% from a 500-mg
tablet taken in the fasting state. Absorption decreases with
increasing dose, and administration with food deceases the extent
of and slightly delays absorption. Peak plasma concentrations
each 1 ug/mL to 2 ug/mL 1 to 2 hours after an oral dose of 500 mg
to 1,000 mg. Metformin is not bound to plasma proteins, has a
plasma half-life of 1.5 to 4.9 hours, is not metabolized, and is
rapidly cleared by the kidney. These properties of metformin are
quite important, since the drug does not accumulate in the body,
and excessive plasma levels are unlikely to occur in the potence
of normal renal function. These properties are in contrast to
those of phenformin, a biguanide that is no longer available in
most counties because of its occasional association with the
development of
lactic acidosis.
Metformin weight loss is just one of the prescriptions being prescribed by doctors to help weight loss in diabetic people. Do you know what this Metformin is? This is a drug that is being taken by diabetics to help manage their weight or for weight loss. This kind of drug lowers the levels of glucose and increase insulin sensitivity, thus you will feel less hungry and less likely to eat more when you take this up.
Metformin is taken often with Byetta which is an injectable diabetes drug that slows down the movement of food from the stomach through the small intestine, so it may extend feeling of fullness and aid to eat less. There’s this study that women who used this kind of drug combining it with a modified carbohydrate diet have lost around 10 percent of their body weight within one year. It said on the study also that just more than 90% of these women had maintained the weight of 4 years later. There is a risk in taking up Metformin weight loss. This kind of drug can cause nausea, diarrhea, and stomach upset.
In taking this kind of drug it is important to know its contraindications. This kind of drug is contraindicated for people who have a condition that can increase the risk of lactic acidosis that includes kidney disorders, liver disease, and lung disease. Based on the information of prescription, heart failure particularly unstable or acute congestive heart failure increases the risk of lactic acidosis with the metformin. According to a systematic review of controlled trials, however, suggested that this drug is the only anti-diabetic drug that is not associated to any measurable danger in people who has a heart failure and that it may lessen the mortality in comparison with some of the anti-diabetic agents.
Aside from that you need to know also the adverse effects that you can have while taking this kind of drug. The most common adverse effect of this drug is gastrointestinal upset that includes cramps, vomiting, nausea, diarrhea, and increased flatulence. This kind of drug is often associated to gastrointestinal side effects than most of other drugs for diabetes. This drug can also give serious side effect. The most serious side effect of this is lactic acidosis, but this incidence is very rare. It is reported also that this drug can decrease the blood levels of the thyroid-stimulating hormone in patients suffering from hypothyroidism and to men, testosterone and luteinizing hormone.
It is very beneficial to know more about metformin especially when you will take this up for you to clearly understand what this drug is for. Through this you will also know how you will benefit from taking this drug. It’s really important to know about this drug for you will know what it’s given adverse effects. This will help you to avoid from it. As an advice if you plan to take this drug, you must consult your doctor first for right prescription. This is just the best thing you can do before you use metformin weight loss.