“Diabetics should not stop Metformin medication without consulting their doctor”

To ensure a better quality of life, some patients require some supplements that improve their prognosis after changing habits.

Dr. Leticia Hernández, elected president of the Puerto Rican Association of Endocrinology and Diabetology.

Treatments for some chronic conditions are administered on an individual basis as it depends on how the patient is progressing from the diseaseGenerally, when a person is diagnosed with diabetes, the treating physician recommends changing certain eating habits and choosing certain nutrients to help them control glucose.

When in certain cases there is no improvement in the patient compared to some basic recommendations such as: nutrition, supplements or medication, it starts with therapy focused and in this case with metformin, a drug specialized in the treatment of diabetes whose function is centralized in regulating the insulin usually affected by the condition.

In an interview with Medicine and Public Health (MSP) magazine, Dr. Leticia Hernández, elected president of the Puerto Rican Association of Endocrinology and Diabetology, explains the role of metformin, its type of administration and its benefit to patients. patients diagnosed with type 2 diabetes

“Metformin is one of the drugs that is especially recommended in the treatment of type 2 diabetes, which is the change in lifestyle: a healthy diet and regular exercise to treat the disease. Metformin helps control one of the major defects of type 2 diabetes, which is insulin resistance, which means it helps our tissues use insulin better and also prevents us from releasing glucose through the liver, causing our glucose levels to rise. in the body, ”explained the elected director.

Administration

Thanks to preliminary studies with metformin, there is a predisposition to prevent diabetes, where there is patients those already diagnosed or exhibiting a risk factor can create “immunity” against the pathology, likewise, the amount of administration must be essential to ensure proper action of the drug.

“Metformin has been used from the pre-diabetes stage as there is a study in diabetes prevention that found that metformin reduced the risk of developing diabetes by 31% after 10 years in patients with prediabetes. In patients with prediabetes, a dose of 150 mg twice a day is used, which is the dose provided by the studies that had this beneficial metabolic effect in preventing the development of diabetes in patients with prediabetes. Patients with diabetes should take a dose of 1,000 mg twice a day, which is the correct dose, ”says Dr. Hernández.

Diabetes and kidney failure

When diabetes has already progressed significantly, as explained by the doctor, metformin can cause some side effects if not consumed in a rationed manner and in less amounts than at the beginning.

“Patients suffering from advanced renal failure have a renal filtration ratio less than 45, in these cases the metformin dose is halved as they may have a complication known as lactic acidosis related to renal failure. That it will happen may be greater”, he indicated.

Therapy

The drug is recommended as a first-line treatment for patients who have developed diabetes, also for advanced diagnoses, but the amount administered varies depending on the individual’s progress and the potential complications that arise during treatment. disease

“In most cases it is recommended as the first rule therapy, but if there is a patient with a kidney failure advanced usually does not start with that therapy from the start and if the patient is already using it, it is eliminated and another drug is considered so that they do not have any problems, ”the doctor added. It also ensures: “This is a drug that can be used from the start, it is a cheap drug, it does not cause weight gain, and most of the research on new drugs is added to metformin, and it is a fairly safe drug to use.

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