Metformin it is a popular medication for high blood sugar in patients with
type 2 diabetes in today's video I will expose some of the most common
misconceptions and misunderstandings around it, we will talk about how effective
it is to use Metformin how safe is to use long term as well as many other
misconceptions around this medication so if you are taking Metformin or
considering taking Metformin you do not want to miss any of it so stay tuned until the
end of this video
hi I am Dr. Ahmet Ergin, I'm an entrepreneur and founder of
sugarmds.com which is a new way of managing diabetes there's a lot being
talked about when it comes to Metformin and no chronologies and primary care
doctors to prescribe Metformin heavily as a first-line medication for type 2
diabetes so you may have heard a lot of bad things about Metformin so whose
right is my primarily the right medication for you should you believe to
your doctor should you believe to you're a true specialist should you believe to
what you have heard on the TV or the internet or the books the magazines
friends who is Right who is wrong let's talk about metformin I don't the bunk
all the misconceptions together with you today so what is metformin
but Foreman is a medication that is used as a first-line agent and is still
recommended by major society guidelines for the first-line agent so what it does
it basically reduces the glucose production from early birth it also
increases the glucose absorption in your body as a result you do not need as much
insulin which indirectly reduces your glucose metformin is not
only used for diabetes but it also has been used for pre diabetes gestational
diabetes causes the ovarian syndrome which are precursors of diabetes which
all leads to damages so metroman also has been used to
prevent diabetes we never got as well so it all sounds good right so what is
wrong with it so what is the catch let's talk about it so I hear all the time for
my patients the metformin can cause damage to your
kidneys or liver hmm let's look at the studies in one systematic review of 17
studies comparing treatments with or without my partner but for many years
also shield with lower that wait yes over that way among patients with heart
failure renal failure or chronic liver disease based on that the Food and Drug
Administration the APA on David the advice for metformin being able to be
used on the stage for kidney disease in terms of the liver disease unless
there's an active or progressive liver disease metformin can still be used the
reason to avoid metformin is severe kidney failure or liver failure is the
fact that metformin may not be metabolized or excreted from the body
properly causing accumulation which can lead to changes in the body's pH which
is acid-base balance the number two they say my for me can cause dementia well
that's natural either in multiple studies conclusion
was that the metformin should be actually use as a first-line agent or
patients at risk for dementia or Alzheimer's disease and there's no
scientific evidence either to support the belief that the metformin can lead
to dementia so number three the third myth is the metformin is harmful during
practice well that is completely incorrect
multiple studies published in reputable drawers indicated that Foreman cross the
placenta yes that is true however that doesn't mean that the child will be at
Witts on the contrary if you have a pretty controlled diabetes that can
cause very significant harm to the day number four you cannot view the
metformin if you have heart disease that's another common myth that is
actually partially correct and now it's pointing to what
modern studies today during the last 20 to 30 years
indicate that the metformin is help to reduce heart attacks especially if
started early in the course of the diabetes clinical outcomes also improve
when using stable congestive heart failure patients the only time my
permission to avoid it is if you have a pure heart failure or video when you are
in the hospital for current disease or acute on top of chronic such as
congestive heart failure exacerbation number five metformin can cause elevated
cholesterol levels well they cannot be more untrue studies
indicate that after starting med firm the bad cholesterol which is your LDL
Goes Down triglyceride which is not innocent either also goes down the HDL
which is the good cholesterol that saved you from the heart attack goes up after
starting network it has also been shown that the metformin can actually assist
in cholesterol medications to further reduce the risk of heart attacks and
strokes the number six metformin can increase the risk of
cancer the opposite is company to multiple scientific studies indicate
that the use of metformin compared with the non-use was associated with a
reduced risk by up to 40% this meaning is dead if you have diabetes and take
metformin your chances of having cancer can be reduced by 40% what else
number 7 metformin can cause damage to the pancreas
oh that's not my problem does not cost any pancreatic damage on the other hand
can reduce the risk of pancreatic cancer and I do not even wish that to my enemy
it's a horrible case what are the side effects of network so we talked about
all the good things about metformin let let's talk about the downsides as
you can imagine everything comes with a price sometimes it could the drug cost
sometimes it could be side effects so metformin side effects can be the price
to pay for the multiple benefits you are getting so side effects can be annoying
then is really harmful and the good thing is
most side effects goes away within the first couple of weeks so what are these
side effects number one you may have a metallic taste
in your mouth you may have a mild up attack reduction just good you can't go
through the three percent of body weight loss at they're shown with metformin
nausea can happen after panel discomfort and diarrhea are commonly or for a side
effect and that's probably the most annoying the b12 deficiency can happen
with prolonged use of metformin the occasional b12 testing can be helpful if
you have known metformin for years and years now lactic acidosis which is a
common noise around metformin is extremely uncommon
actually multiple studies show that people on metformin versus not on
metformin have this similar chance of lactic acidosis wait so what are the
other common side effects of my firm chest pain for watching rash headache
stuffy nose cold like symptoms or excessive sweating I hear those side
effects in my practice occasionally but again these are very very rare so how to
reduce the risk of side effects of that part that will be the topic of the next
video so stay tuned and please subscribe to our channel so you can continue to
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