Metformin

Metformin

The medical term for metformin is biguanide. Brand names include: Glucophage; Glucophage XR; Diaformin; Diabex; Fortamet; Glumetza; Riomet.

Metformin is the number one drug of choice by doctors to commence on when diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Why is this? Working to improve the ways our natural insulin works in our body and helping to regulate blood sugars by its action on the liver, metformin also has been associated with no hypoglycaemia (low blood sugars); no weight gain (and some studies even suggest weight loss) and is generally well tolerated.

It is one of the most affordable diabetes medications available and is increasingly being researched as it seems to have a number of other beneficial effects, playing a role in heart health, stroke prevention, cancer and general anti-ageing (Benefits of Metformin - read more below). Originally deriving from a plant, the French lilac, metformin has been around for a very long time, centuries in fact, and in its current tablet form since the 1970’s.

Introducing changes to your diet and exercise in combination with metformin have the biggest benefits in regulating blood sugars. Sometimes Metformin is started in pre-diabetes to try and halt the progression to diagnosis and also in gestational diabetes, with or without insulin. It is commonly given in combination with other diabetes medications if blood sugars are not within normal range.

What is diabetes?

Type 2 diabetes is an elevation in blood sugars that occurs when a sugar, called glucose, can’t get into your fat and muscles where it is needed. Elevated blood glucose damages the lining of blood vessels leading to a range of complications in various organs of the body.

High blood glucose is sometimes referred to as high blood sugar. Diagnosing diabetes is done by measuring your blood sugar levels.

To learn more and what type 2 diabetes is, you can read more from our dedicated Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus page.

Since metformin is the number one drug of choice for people with type 2 diabetes, keep reading to learn more about metformin, including the benefits of metformin, and the side effects of metformin, for example diarrhoea.