Latest Update on Metformin

[audiogeek247]

I've been on metformin for around 3 to 4 weeks and have changed dramatically. After talks with Nelson and having to constantly raise my trt to make a decent total T count, insulin resistance could be cause. No more ibs symptoms weight loss, better mood etc. I don't think I'll ever change. This is what I've been looking for for a long time.

 

[tjlab]

Awesome! What is your dose? Are you taking ER or regular?

 

[audiogeek247]

I take normal 500mg twice daily with food

 

[Leesto]

I am on 1000 mg twice daily. I don't have any trouble taking it without food but some people report digestive discomfort - especially when starting out or when increasing their dosage.

I also take an herb called Berberine (500 mg twice daily), which has very similar effects to Metformin.

The reason I take these is type II diabetes, but gosh, given the favorable studies about Metformin I'm glad I'm on it.

 

[Nelson Vergel]

I have lost weight and 0.5 inch waist size on 500 mg (breakfast and dinner) after 2 months. I have not modified my diet or exercise program. My sporadic issues with bloat are gone.

Several of the medications I take cause insulin resistance. I think Metformin has improved my insulin sensitivity and decreased my spikes.

 

[Nelson Vergel]

Metformin May Also Lower LDL Cholesterol: Study Suggests How
Metformin, which has been used to lower blood glucose levels in patients with type 2 diabetes for more than 50 years, appears to also lower LDL-cholesterol levels, possibly by a complex mechanism, according to new research.

In a study published online August 5 in Diabetes Care, Dr Tao Xu, from Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen, in Neuherberg, Germany, and colleagues describe how they analyzed levels of 131 serum metabolites as well as genomic data in three large cohorts of participants with treated or untreated type 2 diabetes, prediabetes, or no diabetes.

They found that patients who were taking metformin had lower levels of three metabolites and LDL cholesterol, senior author Dr Rui Wang-Sattler, from Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen and the German Center for Diabetes Research, told Medscape Medical News.

 

[Nelson Vergel]

PLoS One. 2016; 11(1): e0145719.
Published online 2016 Jan 25. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0145719
PMCID: PMC4726568

Effect of Metformin Treatment on Lipoprotein Subfractions in Non-Diabetic Patients with Acute Myocardial Infarction: A Glycometabolic Intervention as Adjunct to Primary Coronary Intervention in ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction (GIPS-III) Trial

Ruben N. Eppinga,1 Minke H. T. Hartman,1 Dirk J. van Veldhuisen,1 Chris P. H. Lexis,1 Margery A. Connelly,2 Erik Lipsic,1 Iwan C. C. van der Horst,3 Pim van der Harst,1,* and Robin P. F. Dullaart4
Giacomo Frati, Editor

1University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, the Department of Cardiology, Groningen, the Netherlands
2LabCorp, Raleigh, North Carolina, United States of America
3University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, the Department of Critical Care, Groningen, the Netherlands
4University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, the Department of Endocrinology, Groningen, the Netherlands
Sapienza University of Rome, ITALY
Competing Interests: The authors of this manuscript have read the journal's policy and have the following competing interests: MAC, PhD is an employee of LabCorp (Raleigh, North Carolina, USA), however this does not alter the authors' adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.




Abstract

Objective

Metformin affects low density lipoprotein (LDL) and high density (HDL) subfractions in the context of impaired glucose tolerance, but its effects in the setting of acute myocardial infarction (MI) are unknown. We determined whether metformin administration affects lipoprotein subfractions 4 months after ST-segment elevation MI (STEMI). Second, we assessed associations of lipoprotein subfractions with left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and infarct size 4 months after STEMI.

Methods

371 participants without known diabetes participating in the GIPS-III trial, a placebo controlled, double-blind randomized trial studying the effect of metformin (500 mg bid) during 4 months after primary percutaneous coronary intervention for STEMI were included of whom 317 completed follow-up (clinicaltrial.gov Identifier: NCT01217307). Lipoprotein subfractions were measured using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy at presentation, 24 hours and 4 months after STEMI. (Apo)lipoprotein measures were obtained during acute STEMI and 4 months post-STEMI. LVEF and infarct size were measured by cardiac magnetic resonance imaging.

Results

Metformin treatment slightly decreased LDL cholesterol levels (adjusted P = 0.01), whereas apoB remained unchanged. Large LDL particles and LDL size were also decreased after metformin treatment (adjusted P<0.001). After adjustment for covariates, increased small HDL particles at 24 hours after STEMI predicted higher LVEF (P = 0.005). In addition, increased medium-sized VLDL particles at the same time point predicted a smaller infarct size (P<0.001).

Conclusion

LDL cholesterol and large LDL particles were decreased during 4 months treatment with metformin started early after MI. Higher small HDL and medium VLDL particle concentrations are associated with favorable LVEF and infarct size.

 

[Vince]

Metformin May Also Lower LDL Cholesterol: Study Suggests How


Metformin, which has been used to lower blood glucose levels in patients with type 2 diabetes for more than 50 years, appears to also lower LDL-cholesterol levels, possibly by a complex mechanism, according to new research.

In a study published online August 5 in Diabetes Care, Dr Tao Xu, from Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen, in Neuherberg, Germany, and colleagues describe how they analyzed levels of 131 serum metabolites as well as genomic data in three large cohorts of participants with treated or untreated type 2 diabetes, prediabetes, or no diabetes.

They found that patients who were taking metformin had lower levels of three metabolites and LDL cholesterol, senior author Dr Rui Wang-Sattler, from Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen and the German Center for Diabetes Research, told Medscape Medical News.

this was probably the main reason why I started using metformin, there are so many health benefits to metformin
https://www.excelmale.com/forum/showthread.php?8541-My-Latest-Cleveland-Heart-Clinic-Labs

 

[Nelson Vergel]

Consider Metformin in Patients with These Comorbidities

Ann Intern Med; ePub 2017 Jan 3; Crowley, et al

January 20, 2017

Using metformin in patients with diabetes and moderate chronic kidney or liver disease, or heart failure, is linked with improved outcomes, according to a systematic review involving 17 observational studies.

Investigators looked at studies that 1) examined adults with type 2 diabetes and CKD (chronic kidney failure), CHF (chronic heart failure), or CLD (chronic liver disease) with hepatic impairment; 2) compared treatments that did and did not include metformin; and 3) analyzed all-cause mortality, adverse CV events, and other outcomes. Among the results:

Metformin led to a reduction in all-cause mortality in patients with CKD, CHF, or CLD with hepatic impairment.
It also caused fewer heart failure readmissions in patients with CKD or CHF.

The authors concluded that their findings support changes made recently in metformin labeling.

http://www.mdedge.com/clinicalendoc...g_Transgender_Patients_|_=&More_ClinicalEdge=

 

[Nelson Vergel]

Metformin improves metabolic profile in adults without diabetes on glucocorticoids
“Our results indicate that metformin prevents deterioration of glucose metabolism if treatment is timed with initiation of glucocorticoids,” the researchers wrote. “This study provides the basis for metformin as a preventive treatment in patients newly receiving glucocorticoid therapy. Further studies are needed to test if occurrence of glucocorticoid-induced diabetes can be reduced, and if metformin has similar beneficial effects in patients with continuous glucocorticoid treatment.”

http://www.healio.com/endocrinology..._medium=email&utm_campaign=endocrinology news

 

[Nelson Vergel]

Beyond diabetes, metformin may prove to be a &#8216;wonder drug'
New research is suggesting that metformin may hold promise in treating or preventing a whole host of conditions in patients with and without type 2 diabetes. Studies show metformin may be cardioprotective in patients with diabetes and beneficial in the presence of stable congestive heart failure. The agent also may help to increase pregnancy rate in polycystic ovary syndrome, provide breast and prostate cancer benefits, and offer neuroprotection that may reduce dementia and stroke risk, Akiyode said.


Nir Barzilai, MD, is exploring whether metformin can target and delay aging, to decrease the incidence of age-related diseases in general, rather than merely decrease the incidence of diabetes. Photo courtesy of Albert Einstein College of Medicine printed with permission.
Nir Barzilai, MD, an endocrinologist and director of the Institute for Aging Research at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, said he hopes to work with the FDA to conduct an NIH/American Federation for Aging Research metformin trial later this year — Targeting Aging with Metformin (TAME) — that will demonstrate the agent's ability to delay the onset of comorbidities related to aging, thereby reducing the period of morbidity at the end of life.

“If metformin can target and delay aging, its administration should be associated with fewer age-related diseases in general, rather than merely the decreased incidence of a single disease,” Barzilai and colleagues wrote in a study published in the June 2016 issue of Cell Metabolism. “Data from several randomized clinical trials and multiple observational studies provide evidence for such an effect, which would not be expected from glucose lowering alone.”

Endocrine Today spoke with experts who discussed the latest research demonstrating the nondiabetic benefits of metformin and the theories behind possible mechanisms.

Metformin's history, mechanism

The use of what would eventually become metformin dates to the Middle Ages, when herbalists first derived extracts from Galega officinais, a plant known alternatively as French lilac, false indigo and Spanish sainfoin, to treat frequent urination. The plant's active ingredient — guanidine — was first isolated in the 1800s and later synthesized as the less-toxic metformin. The drug was approved in France and the United Kingdom in 1957 and 1958, respectively, but it would be another 37 years before the FDA would approve the agent for use in the United States.

Despite the initial resistance to the drug, the FDA has been more open recently to considering studies that could examine other indications for metformin, through trials like TAME.

“The FDA has shown increasing flexibility in recent years with regard to metformin, surprisingly so, considering its original position back in the 1980s when it vowed never to approve the drug,” Alan J. Garber, MD, PhD, FACE, chief medical editor of Endocrine Today, said in an interview. “It was a surprisingly firm position, not necessarily grounded in observational science, but was related to the rather startling toxicity of [the drug's] cousin, phenformin.” Phenformin was withdrawn from most markets in the late 1970s because of a high risk for lactic acidosis in patients.

More here

 

[Nelson Vergel]

I stopped Metformin last week. I kept losing weight even as I ate the same amounts of food. Lost 18 pounds (muscle and fat) in 3 months. I want to regain some muscle again!

May 15, 2017 Update:

I restarted Metformin a month ago since I missed how well my gut felt on it. I decided to stay on it for life.

 

[Leesto]

I stopped Metformin last week. I kept losing weight even as I ate the same amounts of food. Lost 18 pounds (muscle and fat) in 3 months. I want to regain some muscle again!

Sorry to hear that Nelson but thanks for the information. That's a lot of weight to lose in 3 months!

 

[Speed]

Is there any update about "TAME" study ? Is it in progress. I can't find the info online.

 

[Vince]

Dr. Nir Barzilai on the TAME Study March 2015 Newsletter
Healthspan Campaign partner the Albert Einstein College of Medicine was recently featured in The Wall Street Journal about a groundbreaking new study called Targeting/Taming Aging With Metformin, or TAME. We had the chance to speak with Nir Barzilai, M.D., director, Institute for Aging Research, Einstein College of Medicine, and, scientific co-director, the American Federation for Aging Research, to learn more about it.http://www.healthspancampaign.org/2015/04/28/dr-nir-barzilai-on-the-tame-study/

 

[ratbag]

I'm still somewhat suspicious about metformin although I take 1000mg daily because of type 2 diabetes. The good news on metformin and statins never ends. I can't help but feel that big pharma is behind all this never ending great news on both these drugs and this is what big pharma does. If big pharma had it their way everyone would be taking them daily.

Ive been on metformin for 5 years and I too suffered from gastro discomfort etc. So I started taking it when I went to bed and nearly all the symptoms disappeared.

 

[PedroZuñiga]

Same! idk why

 

[maxadvance]

I'm still somewhat suspicious about metformin although I take 1000mg daily because of type 2 diabetes. The good news on metformin and statins never ends. I can't help but feel that big pharma is behind all this never ending great news on both these drugs and this is what big pharma does. If big pharma had it their way everyone would be taking them daily.

Ive been on metformin for 5 years and I too suffered from gastro discomfort etc. So I started taking it when I went to bed and nearly all the symptoms disappeared.

Big pharma doesn't give 2 shits about metformin. They are not the ones profiting. When a drug like metformin is this old, the royalties are gone and it's virtually 100% generic and compounded, and cheap.

 

[Vince]

I'm still somewhat suspicious about metformin although I take 1000mg daily because of type 2 diabetes. The good news on metformin and statins never ends. I can't help but feel that big pharma is behind all this never ending great news on both these drugs and this is what big pharma does. If big pharma had it their way everyone would be taking them daily.

Ive been on metformin for 5 years and I too suffered from gastro discomfort etc. So I started taking it when I went to bed and nearly all the symptoms disappeared.

As you probably know metformin uses vitamin B12, can cause problems for some. So supplement with B12 and have your levels checked.

 

[Melvin]

I didn't realize metformin had so many effects on various parts of the body. Thanks for the info