Northerner
Admin (Retired)
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
SCOTTISH scientists have revealed why some diabetics suffer side effects from a widely-used drug.
In an advance which takes treatment a step further along the road to personalised medicine, the researchers at Dundee University have uncovered a genetic quirk which helps explain why the treatment can trigger stomach complaints.
The researchers say their findings suggest patients who are suffering side effects from taking the drug metformin should review their prescribed treatment with their GP.
Metformin is the medication of choice for most patients with type 2 diabetes and is used by about 1.5 million people in the UK. It is known to have benefits over other diabetes therapies, yet approximately one in four patients suffer gastrointestinal side effects with this pill, and for 1 in 20 patients these side effects are so severe metformin cannot be used.
The research, published in the journal Diabetes, provides new insight into why some patients develop these side effects and how other commonly used treatments might increase the risk of suffering them.
http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/...etes-treatment-upsets-some-stomachs.114696967
In an advance which takes treatment a step further along the road to personalised medicine, the researchers at Dundee University have uncovered a genetic quirk which helps explain why the treatment can trigger stomach complaints.
The researchers say their findings suggest patients who are suffering side effects from taking the drug metformin should review their prescribed treatment with their GP.
Metformin is the medication of choice for most patients with type 2 diabetes and is used by about 1.5 million people in the UK. It is known to have benefits over other diabetes therapies, yet approximately one in four patients suffer gastrointestinal side effects with this pill, and for 1 in 20 patients these side effects are so severe metformin cannot be used.
The research, published in the journal Diabetes, provides new insight into why some patients develop these side effects and how other commonly used treatments might increase the risk of suffering them.
http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/...etes-treatment-upsets-some-stomachs.114696967