A common drug used alongside Insulin to treat diabetes may have value as a general-purpose weight loss aid, and especially an aid to keeping weight off long-term. This promising finding came out of a study of diabetes patients designed specifically to measure the effects of Metformin…
Getting the weight off isn’t nearly as hard as keeping it off long-term.
Anti-diabetes drug Metformin may help…
Metformin has long been used in the treatment of diabetes as an adjunct to Insulin, the primary med used to control insulin levels in the blood and, thereby, control the disease. Metformin does not effect Insulin levels, but it does reduce blood sugar levels. So, it’s logical that it should help people loose weight, too.
What they did…
Researchers studied the blood sugar levels of three groups among 3,000 pre-diabetic patients – on watch for increasing blood sugar levels. One group was given Metformin, another was given no meds but prescribed intensive lifestyle interventions (ILS), and a third was given a placebo.
What they found…
After the first year, twice as many participants in the ILS group versus the Metformin group had lost at least 5 percent of their body weight. However, those who were assigned to the Metformin group had greater success at maintaining their weight loss between years 6 and 15, while patients were still being followed. The researchers noted that greater weight loss at one year predicted long-term weight loss across all groups.
The researchers also found that cumulative diabetes incidence rates over 15 years were lower among those who lost at least 5 percent of their weight in the first year.
The takeaway…
While the researchers did not recommend that Metformin be developed as a weight loss treatment, they did say more study is warranted on using the drug as a means of keeping weight off after initial weight loss via ILSs, anti-obesity drugs or devices, or bariatric (stomach reduction) surgery.
My take…
My personal preference for weight reduction is taking a long walk every morning (with or without a dog or a human walking buddy with me) and reducing my intake of the wrong kinds of foods. In fact I’ve learned, through long-term observation, that the walking does things to my metabolism that help curb my appetite. But the zinger has always been that the weight I lost came back if, for some reason (injury, change of routine, family crisis, etc.), I stopped walking every morning. I think Metformin could be an ideal adjunct to my preferred weight loss / maintenance method – provided further research doesn’t uncover any unwelcome side effects of taking the drug.
~ Maggie J.