3 Substantial Dangers of Metformin Medicine

What are the three major Hazards of Metformin can be fatal if you ignore any of these?

Metformin is the first-line medication recommended in the guidelines for the prevention and treatment of type 2 diabetes. Not only can it improve insulin resistance and lower blood sugar, it can also prevent macrovascular and microvascular disease caused by diabetes, improve blood lipid metabolism, and reduce the chance of cardiovascular complications. Most people with diabetes need to take it for a long time. However, there are three issues that Metformin must pay attention to, otherwise it may cause harm or even threaten life at any time.

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The 3 Issues are:

1. Long-term use of metformin will cause the loss of vitamin B12 and accelerate the occurrence of diabetic neuropathy

Vitamin B12 is an important substance that maintains the normal state of the body's hematopoietic function and can effectively prevent pernicious anemia. 

It can also exist in the form of coenzymes to regulate sugar metabolism. At the same time, it is also an essential vitamin for the nervous system.

 

For diabetics, the lack of vitamin B12 will not only affect the regulation of blood sugar, but also accelerate neuropathy and cause a variety of diabetic complications early. For example, diabetic peripheral neuropathy (lower limb numbness, pain, itching, etc.), diabetic cardiovascular disease (painless myocardial ischemia, painless myocardial infarction, etc.), diabetic foot (old rotten foot), etc.

Therefore, patients taking Metformin for a long time should add vitamin B12 appropriately. 

Vitamin B12 is abundant in meat, animal liver, fish, shellfish and eggs.

 

2. Very few patients taking metformin will induce lactic acidosis

Lactic acidosis is a very rare but very dangerous complication of diabetic patients. 

The clinical manifestations are vomiting, abdominal pain, and mental disorder. Once it occurs, the mortality rate is as high as 50%.

 

Lactic acid is a substance produced when glucose is metabolized under anaerobic conditions in cells. Under normal circumstances, most of the lactic acid can be converted into glucose again by the liver's xenobiosis, providing energy for the human body.

A small amount of lactic acid can be excreted by the kidney through metabolism. 

Metformin itself has the effect of inhibiting gluconeogenesis to glucose. It will cause the increase of lactic acid content in the body.

If the patient has a serious loss of kidney function and lactic acid is difficult to metabolize through urination. It will accumulate too much in the human body and cause lactic acidosis. Therefore, patients with severe liver and kidney dysfunction are clinically prohibited from using metformin to prevent lactic acidosis.

 

3. Taking Metformin under three circumstances can easily cause hypoglycemia

Metformin itself does not cause hypoglycemia, but it can induce hypoglycemia in three situations, causing the patient's life to be dangerous.

 

1) After a lot of exercise, did not add enough calories in time;

 

2) Combination with sulfonylurea drugs or insulin may cause hypoglycemia;

 

3) After drinking alcohol, alcohol can stimulate insulin secretion, and it will reach a peak in 2-3 hours, which is the same as the peak period of the effect of hypoglycemic drugs. 

The two peaks are superimposed, which can easily cause hypoglycemia coma. This situation is often most easily overlooked by patients, and should be paid more attention to.

 

Although there may be the above risks, a large number of studies have shown that metformin is generally well tolerated, has high safety, and does not damage the liver and kidneys. 

It is still the drug of choice for diabetes control worldwide. 

Patients should be taken reasonably under the guidance of a doctor to obtain better treatment results.

Author's Bio

Name: Ian Skyler

Education: MBBS, MD

Occupation: Medical Doctor 

Specialization: Community Medicine, General Surgery, Natural Treatment

Experience: 18 Years as a Medical Practitioner

 

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