Description
What is Metformin Hydrochloride IP 250mg/500mg/1000mg Tablets
Metformin is an FDA-approved drug to treat type two diabetes. Metformin tablets’ easy intake by mouth makes the drug much more tolerable by patients than insulin. Metformin is the first-line treatment for type two diabetes. It regulates blood sugar levels, particularly in overweight patients. Moreover, it has a significant positive control on the metabolic profile.
Metformin hydrochloride has a slow absorption rate in the intestines and is available as a sustained release formulation that allows for a single dose administration per day. Metformin has an overall positive impact on body metabolism. In addition to its hypoglycemic effect, metformin regulates the lipid profile, preventing excessive weight gain.
Owing to its multiple metabolic activities, it has a wide range of off-label uses. Controlling blood glucose levels in type two diabetes patients is the only FDA-approved indication for metformin, but several types of research provided other therapeutic effects. Metformin helps women with polycystic ovarian syndrome better manage hirsutism and insulin resistance symptoms. In addition, metformin reduces the incidence of age-related diseases such as atherosclerosis, cardiovascular diseases, and neurodegenerative affections.
Controlling blood glucose levels helps prevent diabetes-associated complications such as kidney damage, nerve problems, blindness, sexual dysfunction, and loss of limbs. Proper management of diabetes may also lessen the risk of heart problems such as heart attack and stroke. The anti-glycaemic agent helps to restore your body’s normal response to the insulin hormone. Metformin Hydrochloride also because of a significant reduction in the amount of sugar that your liver makes and your stomach absorbs.
Metformin Hydrochloride 500mg or 1000mg is an oral glycaemic drug. It is available in the form of extended-release tablets to manage symptoms of Type 2 diabetes. The medicine is designed in the form of an extended-release tablet for once-a-day administration. Metformin when used with a proper diet and exercise control high blood sugar. It is effective for patients with Type 2 diabetes. Controlling blood glucose levels helps prevent diabetes-associated complications such as kidney damage, nerve problems, blindness, sexual dysfunction, and loss of limbs. Proper management of diabetes may also lessen the risk of heart problems such as heart attack and stroke. The anti-glycaemic agent helps to restore your body’s normal response to the insulin hormone. The medicine is also because of a significant reduction in the amount of sugar that your liver makes and your stomach absorbs.
Mechanism of action of Metformin
The anti-inflammatory and anti-cancerous effects help explain the anti-aging activity of metformin. Mechanism of action Since 1957, When French physician Jean Stern gained approval for metformin use under the brand name Glucophage, metformin became a milestone in type two diabetes management.
Despite its global use, the exact mechanisms behind this medication’s therapeutic effects are still unknown. Metformin seems to work on different tissues and cellular components to achieve its final therapeutic activity.
Metformin is a biguanide agent. It acts on the liver to reduce glucose production. It activates the AMPK enzymes, which play a significant role in the body s energy balance, glucose metabolism, and insulin activity. The AMPK enzymes regulate genes expression that is involved in hepatic sugar production. Metformin modifies the secretion rates of some hormones, including the growth hormone secreted by the pituitary gland, sex hormones, and natural body corticoids.
Metformin s various actions on hormones, cellular receptors, and mitochondria result in higher tissue sensitivity for insulin.
Medical uses of Metformin
Diabetes mellitus: the American College of Physicians guidelines recommends metformin as the first-line treatment for diabetes. Large trials revealed that it prevents long-term complications in overweight people associated with insulin resistance. Accumulated evidence showed that metformin is more efficient and safer than sulfonylureas in thwarting cardiovascular diseases. As sulfonylureas were associated with higher blood pressure levels.
Chronic high blood sugar causes damage to vital organs, such as the eyes, the kidneys, and the heart. It also increases the risk of blood vessels clogging, which may result in amputations. In type two diabetes, high blood sugar levels are due to lower insulin sensitivity. The sugar molecules can not enter the cells, so they accumulate in the blood.
Polycystic ovarian syndrome: the imbalance in hormone levels causes patients with polycystic ovarian syndrome to have hirsutism and become infertile. PCOS is also associated with obesity and insulin resistance. Metformin is the second-line treatment for infertility after clomiphene. Metformin also relieves the complications of glucose intolerance and weight gain.
Metformin as an Anti-Aging drug
Doctors commonly prescribe metformin to help people with type 2 diabetes lower their blood sugar levels. The drug increases insulin sensitivity through its effects on glucose metabolism. However, although there is clear evidence of metformin’s effectiveness, scientists do not fully understand how it interacts with cells and tissues at the molecular level. The researchers suggest, for instance, that the new findings could help explain recent revelations about metformin’s apparent ability to promote healthy aging. Other recent research has also suggested that metformin may have anti-aging effects and an ability to protect bone, especially during the early phases of rheumatoid arthritis. The new findings suggest that metformin’s benefits to healthy aging could be through its interaction with protein kinase D and MAPKAPK2.
With continuous improvement in living conditions, interest, and investment in anti-aging therapies are vastly growing. The antidiabetic drug metformin has garnered tremendous interest owing to its position as first-line therapy for type 2 diabetes treatment and exhibition of anti-aging properties in model organisms. In spite of its widespread use, the mode of metformin action is not fully understood. Multiple targets and distinct mechanisms have been proposed by which its anti-aging effects are mediated.
Many uncertainties exist in metformin mechanisms and side effects that may prevent its widespread use in aging in otherwise healthy individuals. Studies on metformin’s antidiabetic effects demonstrate that metformin does not affect all users in the same fashion. Thus, precision metformin therapy may be needed to fully realize the benefit of metformin to combat aging-related diseases in humans.
Today, Metformin has garnered a new reputation as a possible anti-aging wonder pill that influences a host of metabolic and cellular processes closely associated with the development of age-related conditions. Recent reviews have reported the geroprotective effects of biguanides, mainly Metformin, because of their superior safety profile. As indicated earlier, metformin treatment enhances insulin sensitivity, induces glycolysis, and suppresses hepatic gluconeogenesis. There is some evidence that metformin may also have cardioprotective effects and contribute to the prevention of some forms of human cancer.
This therapeutic profile of metformin supports its use for age-related diseases and longevity. Of significance, many studies have confirmed the positive effect of metformin on the life span of worms, flies, mice, and rats. Moreover, diabetic and cardiovascular disease patients who are prescribed metformin have increased rates of survival, and it was recently proposed that metformin might promote longevity by preventing frailty in older adults with T2DM. Chronic treatment with metformin among patients with diabetes might reduce the risk of cognitive decline and dementia and improve survival in several types of cancer (Reference).
According to recently published data in different animal models, metformin appears to be a promising candidate as a life-extending drug. This compound is generally well tolerated and its long history of clinical use makes it an even more attractive candidate. Besides, metformin is more beneficial than any other anti-diabetic drug in reducing age-related diseases and improving survival in diabetic patients. Although the initial results are very hopeful, more work is needed to elucidate several aspects that still remain unclear. Many of these positive results have been obtained using doses of metformin that exceed therapeutic levels in humans. Moreover, the modes of administration varied among research teams, with the addition of metformin either in drinking water or to the diet. Although female mice were initially found to show a better response to metformin supplementation, recent results from our laboratory indicated no gender or stain differences in the actions of metformin.
Therefore, to establish the molecular mechanisms and pathways of aging, it is imperative to investigate potential hormone-metformin interactions in male and female animals of varying ages, as the age of starting metformin treatment determines whether an increase in mean and maximum life span occurs. There are not enough studies to conclude whether there are epigenetic/genetic differences in metformin effect on aging, life span, and tumorigenesis. Because not all organisms studied seem to respond positively to metformin supplementation (e.g., flies and rats), new approaches with different protocols and experimental designs would be crucial to understanding how metformin might be a good geroprotector throughout phylogeny, including in humans.
A new interesting functional interplay has emerged during the last years that might explain some of the molecular mechanisms through which metformin could improve health and life span. There is some evidence that the anticancer protection conferred by metformin treatment may involve the modulation of miRNAs. These small non-coding RNAs regulate gene expression at the posttranscriptional level and metformin modulates miRNAs that regulate apoptosis and inhibit proliferation. Despite these advances, it is the hope that better coordination among basic and clinical researchers and the use of more sophisticated approaches will facilitate the development of new interventions aimed at improving human health and life span.
Although further research is needed to validate the specific impact of metformin on the human body, scientists and physicians hope additional studies will provide further insight and understanding into how this medication could positively impact longevity. Underwriters in all lines of business should be aware of how treatment with the drug may impact mortality and potentially improve the quality of life in old age for patients across the globe.
Will my doctor prescribe Metformin for weight loss?
Metformin is typically associated with weight loss. Metformin appears to be safe and effective in counteracting the weight gain caused by the antipsychotic medications olanzapine and clozapine. Although a modest reversal of clozapine-associated weight gain is found with metformin, primary prevention of weight gain is more valuable.
If you have type 2 diabetes or prediabetes and are overweight or obese, your doctor may prescribe Metformin to help you manage your diabetes or lower your risk of diabetes, and to see if it can help you to lose weight. In fact, your doctor might prescribe metformin for weight loss even if you don’t have diabetes or prediabetes. This use of Metformin is called off-label use. That means that the FDA has not approved metformin as a weight-loss aid. As a result, there is less information about how effective it is for this purpose.
Why does Metformin cause weight loss?
The relationship between metformin and weight is unclear, but several theories provide possible explanations for weight fluctuations. Reduced hunger is one documented side effect of metformin.
For example, metformin may affect hunger cues. In one small study, 12 women with obesity and type 2 diabetes who were not taking insulin were randomly given two dose levels of metformin — 850 milligrams (mg) or 1,700 mg — or a placebo three times a day for three days, with each participant going through the study three times so they had each dose and the placebo. Participants received a meal test on each third day and rated their hunger level before eating. Researchers found that hunger levels in the metformin group were significantly lower, especially after the participants took the 1,700 mg dose compared with when they were taking the lower metformin dose or placebo.
If you take metformin, it might not appear as if you’re eating less with this drug. But the number of calories you’re currently consuming for breakfast, lunch, and dinner might be lower than your normal food intake. This subtle change in appetite could be responsible for a gradual decline in weight. Having a frequent upset stomach or diarrhea, which is another side effect of the drug, can also affect your food intake. Temporary gastrointestinal upset, typically experienced at the beginning of treatment, from taking metformin may also play a role in weight loss.
According to a study published in the April–June 2017 issue of the Journal of Research in Pharmacy Practice, gastrointestinal side effects are a primary complaint from those who receive metformin tablets in their original formulation. The most common symptoms are vomiting, diarrhea, and nausea, which affects about 2 to 63 percent of people on the drug. Discomfort can be so severe that you may not feel like eating much and subsequently consume fewer calories. The extended-release forms of metformin have documented fewer side effects in studies.
Precautions when taking Metformin
Before taking Metformin, inform your doctor if you have a kidney disorder, liver problems, or heart disease. Pregnant and breastfeeding women should first consult their doctors before taking this medication. Your doctor may check you for kidney function before starting treatment with Metformin. Avoid excessive alcohol intake during the treatment as this may make you more prone to side effects.
Side effects of Metformin
The most common side effects of Metformin include diarrhea, vomiting, change in taste, nausea, loss of appetite, and abdominal pain. Some people may develop low blood sugar levels especially when Metformin is being used with another anti-diabetic agent. Excessive alcohol consumption may reduce the effects of Metformin. Avoid skipping meals while using anti-diabetic agents. It is important to monitor blood sugar levels regularly.
How to use Metformin
Be sure to read the prescription provided by your doctor before you start taking Metformin extended-release tablet. Take the drug once daily with the evening meals. Make sure you receive the anti-diabetic treatment under the supervision of a doctor. Drink plenty of fluids while taking metformin extended-release tablets. Crushing or chewing the tablet can increase the risk of side effects. Generally, the dosage is based on the medical condition and the use of other medications at the time of Metformin. Follow your doctor’s instructions carefully when it comes to using this anti-diabetic agent. For most benefits, it is best to take the drug daily preferably at the same time each day. Keep in mind that your lifestyle plays a crucial role in controlling diabetes. Therefore, it is important to stick to the diet and exercise regimen provided by your doctor.
