Metformin

Metformin is a drug used to treat patients having diabetes. There are 2 types of diabetes, type 1 and type 2 and metformin is only used to treat people having type 2 diabetes. Metformin come as a tablet and taken by mouth. It is the drug of choice to lower the blood sugar level when a person is first found to have diabetes.

 Uses 
 Type-II diabetes - adult onset diabetes due to lack of insulin production and resistance of body tissues to insulin
 Gestational diabetes - diabetes during pregnancy
 To treat obesity in diabetes - metformin lowers the appetite and used to treat obesity
 Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) - presence of multiple ("poly") fluid filled cavities ("cystic") in the ovaries of females

 Side effects 
 Nausea
 Diarrhea
 Abdominal cramps
 Flatulence
 Lactic acidosis

Metformin is not used in patients having severe kidney disease.

 History 
Metformin was first produced from the French lilac or goat's rue (Galega officinalis). Its blood sugar-lowering property was first described in 1929 by Slotta and Tschesche. Metformin became available in Britain in 1958 and got approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for type 2 diabetes in 1994. Today, Metformin has become the world's most widely used medication to treat type 2 diabetes.

 References 

Category:Anti-diabetic drugs
Category:Guanidines