Small, but temporary, beneficial effect from metformin was seen early on
WEDNESDAY, Dec. 2, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Adding metformin to insulin therapy won’t boost glycemic control for overweight teens with type 1 diabetes, according to a study published in the Dec. 1 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
The new study, led by Kellee Miller, Ph.D., of the Jaeb Center for Health Research in Tampa, Fla., involved 140 overweight and obese patients ages 12 to 19 with type 1 diabetes. Each was randomly assigned to take either metformin or a placebo, along with their insulin, for six months.
The researchers found that patients taking metformin showed no improvement in glycemic control over those taking the placebo. A small beneficial effect from the metformin was seen early on in the study, but it disappeared as the weeks went on. Patients who took metformin had more gastrointestinal side effects than those who didn’t take the drug.
“These results do not support prescribing metformin to adolescents to improve glycemic control,” the authors write.
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