January 21, 2014 by Leave a Comment

Metformin: Top Side Effects of the Popular Diabetes Medication

Metformin Molecular Structure

The prescription medication metformin has been around since the late 1950s, but it wasn’t approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration until 1994. Since that time, it has quickly become one of the most popular treatments for type 2 diabetes. In 2010 alone, there were 48.3 million prescriptions written for the drug.

Metformin is an ideal treatment for type 2 diabetics for several reasons:

  • Lowers the amount of glucose that is absorbed from food
  • Minimizes the amount of glucose produced by the liver
  • Increases insulin sensitivity
  • Does not cause low blood sugar
  • Does not cause weight gain
  • Lowers triglycerides
  • Protects the cardiovascular system
  • Eliminated quickly by the kidneys

With all of these benefits, it’s important to keep in mind that metformin isn’t without its shortfalls. One of the most common side effects is gastrointestinal problems, which includes diarrhea, bloating, gas, and stomach pain. Many patients find that these unpleasant side effects go away as their bodies get used to the medication. One study showed that 20 to 30 percent of patients experience gastrointestinal issues, but only 5 percent of those have to stop taking metformin.

To combat these side effects, doctors will start patients on a low dose—usually 250-500 miligrams per day. Sometimes, they’ll even prescribe an extended-release tablet that is easier on the stomach. Patients can also try taking the medication with food or milk.

Other common, but rarely serious, side effects include:

  • Cough
  • Headache
  • Drowsiness
  • Fatigue
  • Loss of appetite
  • B12 deficiency

Be sure to speak with your  physician if you think you are experiencing any of these side effects due to your metformin treatment.

Metformin does pose one serious side effect: lactic acidosis. This condition occurs when acid builds up in the blood. Although it is extremely rare, patients with the condition need immediate medical attention. Symptoms usually come on quickly—abdominal pain, diarrhea, fast breathing, muscle pain, weakness, and general discomfort.

Diabetics with any of these criteria are more likely to develop lactic acidosis and should consider an alternative diabetic treatment:

  • Impaired kidney, heart, or liver function
  • Over 80 years old
  • Taking a metformin dosage of more than 2 grams per day

Enjoyed this article?  Try reading these as well . . .
Am I Metformin Intolerant?
Managing Your Diabetes By Understanding Your Blood Glucose
5 Diabetic Food Myths

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January 15, 2014 by Leave a Comment

Diabetes: Control Your Blood Sugars through Smoking Cessation

Control Your Blood Sugars through Smoking Cessation

There are many things that can have serious impact on your overall blood sugars. One of the largest effects on your blood sugar is not actually what you eat, it is what you breathe. Smoking is unhealthy for anyone, even those who don’t currently have any health problems. Even second hand smoke can have the same effects. When it comes to diabetics smoking, the risks can be worse, it can actually cause chronic blood glucose problems until you are able to quit.

Smoking in Relation to Diabetes

Smoking not only puts you at risk for having high blood sugars on a regular basis, but it can also be a major cause for the diabetes diagnosis. Many scientific studies have proven that the chemicals in commercially sold tobacco can increase blood sugar, nicotine being one of the main culprits.

Studies have also shown that after the first puff of each cigarette, your blood sugar shoots up. It returns to normal about 30 minutes after the last puff.

The worst association of smoking and diabetes is that it can also contribute to developing insulin resistance, which means your body will have trouble responding to most conventional methods of treating high blood sugars.

Quitting Smoking for Diabetics

Unfortunately, most products that are sold over the counter are not a good fit for a diabetic who is attempting to quit smoking. This is because the patch, the gum, lozenges, and even the inhaler contain nicotine. When your body is exposed to high doses of nicotine for a prolonged period of time, your blood sugar could become dangerously high.

There are many prescription medications, such as Chantix and Wellbutrin that have provided amazing results for a wide range of people. It is important to talk to your doctor to ensure that you are a good fit for these medications. Certain disorders that are caused by diabetes, or lead to diabetes, are affected by these medications, so not everyone can take them.

Considerations for Quitting

Regardless of what method you use to quit, it is important to carefully monitor your body’s response. Many people tend to eat more and on more regular intervals when they stop smoking. As a diabetic, you have to take special care not to over-eat, and not to eat the wrong types of foods. Eating fruits and vegetables that are low on carbohydrates and processed sugars can help curb the cravings, and still allow you to maintain your blood sugars.

You may have to check your blood sugar more often as you are quitting smoking, especially if you are using snacks to help curb cravings. This is because stress can also increase your blood sugar and can have negative effects. This is why most physicians choose to use Wellbutrin to aid diabetics in their efforts to quit smoking. In clinical studies, this medication has also shown positive effects on reducing the stress level, and counteracting any depression that may be associated with quitting.

Diabetes CTA

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January 5, 2014 by Leave a Comment

Exercises for Diabetics Who Suffer from COPD

Exercises for diabetes and COPD

As a diabetic, you know how important it is to maintain your weight and in some cases, reduce your weight. If you are a diabetic who also suffers from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), this can be very challenging. COPD is an overall diagnosis that covers a lot of respiratory illnesses. The illnesses that are typically categorized in this group are emphysema, chronic bronchitis, and asthma.  These disorders cause shortness of breath, and make exercise very difficult. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Clinical Research, Diabetes
December 9, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Why Diabetics are at Risk for High Cholesterol

cholesterol.word.cloud

One of the most important things a diabetic can know is how their blood glucose levels can affect the other parts of the body. Even though the body is broken down into various systems, ie cardiac, respiratory, muscles, etc, they all work together and are affected by one another. Any disorder in the body, even if it is technically isolated to one part, can have effects on other systems. For example, someone with a respiratory disorder has trouble bringing in oxygen. This can make the heart work harder to get oxygen to the rest of the body.

Due to the set up of the human body, diabetes can actually cause high cholesterol levels, especially if blood glucose levels are not controlled. The various chemicals (hormones) that are secreted by the pancreas have control over cholesterol levels and blood sugars. Here, we will explain how the pancreas works, and how the effects of diabetes can prevent the body from being able to control your cholesterol levels and vice versa.

The Role of the Pancreas

The association of high cholesterol and diabetes is because the pancreas has the ability to control both in many situations. However, the effects diabetes has on the pancreas can actually prevent the body from properly managing cholesterol.

When you eat, the pancreas secretes several different chemicals. These chemicals are pushed into the digestive system and others into the blood stream to help break down various parts of your meal. This will answer a lot of questions about diabetes, and also make you aware of other problems you could encounter while trying to get your blood glucose levels under control.

The first set of chemicals that are secreted are Trypsin and chymotrypsin, which are essentially fancy names for chemicals that break down the proteins found in meats, beans, cheese, and lentils.

The second chemical that is secreted is Amylase, it is sent to break carbohydrates down into usable energy.

The third chemical that is secreted is Lipase, it is used to break down fats into useable and unusable parts, fatty acids and cholesterol.

The relation that this has to diabetes is due to other hormones that are created in the pancreas, these go straight into the blood stream. Insulin is created and released into the blood stream when the body senses that the blood sugar is too high, and to counteract low blood sugar it releases glucogen.

Diabetics do not create enough insulin in their pancreas to properly manage blood sugar. Damage to the pancreas that is caused by diabetes can also limit the amount of lipase that is produced. This can cause cholesterol to build up faster than it typically would.

The Relation between Diabetes and High Cholesterol

Because the body is focused on trying to create insulin that it cannot, the pancreas does not have all of the intended focus on breaking down fatty acids and cholesterol, which allows more of it to slip into the blood stream through the intestines. This means that diabetics are at a higher risk for developing high cholesterol especially if their blood sugars are not controlled.

Because the body is preoccupied, it doesn’t have time to sort out good cholesterol (HDL) from good cholesterol (LDL).  Studies have shown that people with diabetes have up to a 40% increase in LDL levels which is essentially the basis of high cholesterol.

Enjoyed this article?  Try reading these as well . . .
Low-Stress Meals For Diabetics
3 Questions Diabetic Patients Should Ask About Their Heart
4 Ways to Help Your Insulin Work For You

Cholesterol CTA

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November 14, 2013 by Leave a Comment

4 Ways to Help Your Insulin Work For You

treadmill
When diet and exercise alone cannot control the ups and downs in your blood sugar, insulin may be your only option. Insulin is not a miracle cure, and even though it can help maintain your blood sugars, it is important that you do your best to ensure that your dose stays as low, instead of your doctor needing to increase it on regular intervals. Here are some ways that you can help your insulin work for you.

1. Quit Smoking

Smoking is one of the worst habits that any diabetic can have. It is not healthy for anyone, even ingredients inside vape juice, but diabetics cans suffer long term because of the effects it has on their bodies.

Studies have shown that your blood sugar can increase by 30% from the first puff of a cigarette. Your blood sugar will not begin to regulate for at least 30 minutes after the last puff. Nicotine has also been linked to diabetics developing insulin resistance, which means that your options for treatment will be dramatically reduced.

2. Eat Right

Studies have shown that one type of diabetic diet does not always work for everyone. The ideal diet for a diabetic is balancing fats, protein, and carbohydrates so that your body can make the best use of what you eat.  At times, the balance may need to be adjusted to ensure that your blood glucose levels stay within normal ranges.

Since the amount of carbohydrate, fat, and protein ratios may change according to your lifestyle, you may need to visit a dietitian to ensure that you are eating right, and balancing your meals and snacks efficiently. Many insurance plans will cover the visit to a dietitian for diabetics, check with your insurance company to find out if they are one of them.

Eating the right foods isn’t always enough. You should always eat at regular intervals throughout the day.  Many times, diabetics find it easier to control their blood sugar when they eat six small meals a day instead of three large meals every day.

3. Exercise Regularly

Exercise is very important to help maintain blood glucose levels. It is very important that you only exercise after meals. Studies have shown that exercising before meals can cause your blood sugar to become very high. Exercising after meals can help you maintain a better blood sugar because you are burning off the carbohydrates as energy, rather than allowing them to sit in your blood stream and raise your glucose level.

4. Lose Weight

Even though it sounds cliché, maintaining a healthy weight is essential to ensuring that your insulin will work. The less fat stores you have in your body, the easier it is for your body to remove glucose. Fat tends to hold in whatever it touches, carbohydrates are no different. This means that even if you are eating right, and following your medication plans, these extra fat stores could be at fault for increasing your blood sugar, sometimes to dangerous levels.

Diabetes Insulin CTA

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October 7, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Am I Metformin Intolerant?

For many newly diagnosed diabetics, their first line of therapy often focuses on diet and exercise alone.  While that will be enough for some, unfortunately for many, the inevitable first step into a pharmaceutical treatment involves a medicine called metformin.  Metformin has been used since 1995 in the United States to treat Type 2 Diabetes and is preferred by most physicians as the standard of care to treat newly diagnosed diabetes because of minimal associated risks.

Metformin helps manage diabetes through three functions:  (1) by decreasing the amount of glucose produced by the liver, (2) by inhibiting the absorption of glucose in the patient’s stomach, and (3) by enhancing the function of insulin.

Why Is My Metformin So Intolerable?   [Read more…]

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September 10, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Online Diabetic Resources

The internet holds countless resources for people with diabetes, from healthy recipes to information about diabetic medications to tips for checking your blood sugar. At Protenium Clinical Research, we have a few websites we would like to recommend to you. [Read more…]

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September 3, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Low-Stress Meals For Diabetics

diabetic meals

Part of the stress of meal planning is that it’s easy to prepare favorite foods, which are usually high in carbohydrates and sugar, but it seems to take more time and preparation to make healthier meals.

This article from The American Diabetes Associationis a good list to refer to when remembering what should and should not be part of your diet: [Read more…]

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September 1, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Managing Your Diabetes By Understanding Your Blood Glucose

Understanding blood glucose is an important part of managing your diabetes. Here are some basics that you should know.

1. What should my blood sugar goals be?

Your goal should be to keep your blood sugar similar to someone who does not have diabetes. Below is the American Diabetes Association guide for persons with and without Diabetes: [Read more…]

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August 23, 2013 by Leave a Comment

8 Sources of Healthy Fat

Both fats and carbs are important in a diabetic diet, but need be consumed in moderation.

Fats

Fats come in different forms. Trans fats and saturated fats raise LDL (bad) cholesterol and can raise risk of heart disease over time. Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, including omega 3 and omega 6 oils, can lower inflammation, LDL cholesterol, and blood pressure, according to Healthagy.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Diabetes