News tagged with metformin
Popular diabetes drug does not improve survival rates after cancer
Despite previous scientific studies that suggest diabetes drug metformin has anti-cancer properties, a new, first-of-its-kind study from Women's College Hospital has found the drug may not actually improve survival rates ...
Diabetes
May 09, 2013 |
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Diabetes drug makes lung cancer vulnerable to radiotherapy
The diabetes drug metformin slows the growth of lung cancer cells and makes them more likely to be killed by radiotherapy, according to a study published in the British Journal of Cancer today.
Cancer
May 01, 2013 |
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Study unravels central mystery of Alzheimer's disease
Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have shed light on one of the major toxic mechanisms of Alzheimer's disease. The discoveries could lead to a much better understanding of the Alzheimer's process and how ...
Neuroscience
Apr 10, 2013 |
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Study: Most-used diabetes drug works in different way than previously thought
A team, led by senior author Morris J. Birnbaum, MD, PhD, the Willard and Rhoda Ware Professor of Medicine, with the Institute for Diabetes, Obesity, and Metabolism, Perelman School of Medicine, University ...
Diabetes
Jan 06, 2013 |
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Study reveals how diabetes drug delays ageing in worms
A widely prescribed type 2 diabetes drug slows down the ageing process by mimicking the effects of dieting, according to a study published today using worms to investigate how the drug works.
Medical research
Mar 28, 2013 |
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Commonly used diabetes drug may help to prevent primary liver cancer
Metformin, a drug widely used to treat Type II diabetes, may help to prevent primary liver cancer, researchers at the University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Cancer Center report in the April 2012 issue of Cancer Pr ...
Cancer
Apr 01, 2012 |
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Scientists use diabetes drug in double hit to starve cancer cells
(Medical Xpress) -- UK scientists have discovered how blocking a key controller of energy production in cancer cells and treating them with a diabetes drug, metformin, effectively starves cancer cells. The research1 is published ...
Cancer
Aug 29, 2011 |
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Added benefit of saxagliptin/metformin combination is not proven
The fixed combination of the drugs saxagliptin and metformin (Komboglyze) has been approved in Germany since November 2011 for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus. In an early benefit assessment pursuant to the "Act ...
Medications
Apr 29, 2013 |
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Treating prediabetes might prevent full-blown disease
(HealthDay) -- Treating prediabetes aggressively with lifestyle changes and medications may prevent its progression to diabetes, a new study finds.
Diabetes
Jun 10, 2012 |
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Team discovers how drug prevents aging and cancer progression
University of Montreal researchers have discovered a novel molecular mechanism that can potentially slows the aging process and may prevent the progression of some cancers. In the March 23 online edition of the prestigious ...
Medical research
Mar 27, 2013 |
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Neonatal size unaffected by gestational diabetes drugs
(HealthDay)—Women with gestational diabetes mellitus treated with metformin or insulin have similar changes in markers of metabolic status and no differences in offspring birth weight, according to a study ...
Diabetes
Mar 08, 2013 |
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First-ever guidelines issued for treating type 2 diabetes in kids
(HealthDay)—For the first time ever, the American Academy of Pediatrics has issued guidelines for the management of type 2 diabetes in children and teenagers aged 10 to 18.
Diabetes
Jan 28, 2013 |
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Diabetes drug metformin makes brain cells grow
The widely used diabetes drug metformin comes with a rather unexpected and alluring side effect: it encourages the growth of new neurons in the brain. The study reported in the July 6th issue of Cell Stem Cell also finds ...
Medical research
Jul 05, 2012 |
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Solving the mystery of an old diabetes drug that may reduce cancer risk
In 2005, news first broke that researchers in Scotland found unexpectedly low rates of cancer among diabetics taking metformin, a drug commonly prescribed to patients with Type II diabetes. Many follow-up studies reported ...
Cancer
Jan 18, 2012 |
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Diabetes drug could treat leading cause of blindness
University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston researchers have discovered that a drug already prescribed to millions of people with diabetes could also have another important use: treating one of the world's leading causes ...
Ophthalmology
May 07, 2012 |
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Metformin
Metformin (INN, pronounced /mɛtˈfɔrmɨn/, met-fawr-min; originally sold as Glucophage) is an oral antidiabetic drug in the biguanide class. It is the first-line drug of choice for the treatment of type 2 diabetes, in particular, in overweight and obese people and those with normal kidney function. Evidence is also mounting for its efficacy in gestational diabetes, although safety concerns still preclude its widespread use in this setting. It is also used in the treatment of polycystic ovary syndrome, and has been investigated for other diseases where insulin resistance may be an important factor.
When prescribed appropriately, metformin causes few adverse effects—the most common is gastrointestinal upset—and is associated with a low risk of hypoglycemia. Lactic acidosis (a buildup of lactate in the blood) can be a serious concern in overdose and when it is prescribed to people with contraindications, but otherwise, there is no significant risk. Metformin helps reduce LDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels, and is not associated with weight gain, and is the only antidiabetic drug that has been conclusively shown to prevent the cardiovascular complications of diabetes. As of 2010[update], metformin is one of only two oral antidiabetics in the World Health Organization Model List of Essential Medicines (the other being glibenclamide).
First synthesized and found to reduce blood sugar in the 1920s, metformin was forgotten for the next two decades as research shifted to insulin and other antidiabetic drugs. Interest in metformin was rekindled in the late 1940s after several reports that it could reduce blood sugar levels in people, and in 1957, French physician Jean Sterne published the first clinical trial of metformin as a treatment for diabetes. It was introduced to the United Kingdom in 1958, Canada in 1972, and the United States in 1995. Metformin is now believed to be the most widely prescribed antidiabetic drug in the world; in the United States alone, more than 48 million prescriptions were filled in 2010 for its generic formulations.
For more information about Metformin, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
