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Metformin, a diabetes medicine, could help you lose weight, say scientists who found that it works better than diet and exercise to keep the bulge out.
- Participants received metformin, placebo or a healthy diet
- More people lost weight in the diet group, but they were unable to maintain it
- Metformin has allowed people to continue losing weight over the next 15 years
One study suggests that a drug used by patients with diabetes could help people lose weight without resuming it to lose weight.
Metformin is distributed to millions of people around the world to treat type 2 diabetes because it helps the body react to insulin.
But a 15-year study conducted on more than 30,000 people showed that a daily dose could also lead to regular weight loss in the long run.
It was a more effective intervention than a strict diet and exercise program whose researchers warned people that they were bored quickly.
Metformin is used to treat people with type 2 diabetes, but has also shown its potential to help people lose weight and maintain it as part of a study conducted by Louisiana State University.
In the future, they suggest that metformin may be prescribed to people who have worked hard to lose weight for health reasons.
The authors of the study wrote in the Annals of Internal Medicine: "Helping obese or overweight patients lose weight without getting it back is a major public health problem.
"Although some patients initially succeed in losing weight, many recover some or even most of the weight.
"Understanding the factors that contribute to long-term weight loss can help develop weight loss interventions."
The study, part of CDC's diabetes prevention program, compared the effects of metformin on healthy eating and exercise.
Researchers at Louisiana State University recruited 3,234 obese, overweight or high blood sugar participants.
They were randomly given a placebo, an intensive lifestyle intervention (ILS), which consisted of a diet and exercise program, or metformin 850 mg twice daily.
After one year, 28.5% of participants in the metformin group, 62.6% of the ILS group and 13.4% of the placebo group had lost at least 5% of their weight.
Although people in the ILS group are more likely to lose weight in the first year, the follow-up over the last 15 years has shown that this is difficult to maintain.
In years 6 to 15, at the end of the study, the mean weight loss from baseline was 6.2% in the metformin group.
This compares to 3.7% in the lifestyle group and 2.8% in the placebo group.
Dr. Kishore Gadde, co-author of the study, told INSIDER, "People [doing ILS] showed no enthusiasm for attending these lifestyle intervention sessions.
"In general, enthusiasm for food and exercises does not last long. Taking a pill a day is much easier than dieting and exercising for 15 years. Almost no one can do it.
Professor Gadde thinks that further research is needed on the potential use of metformin as a weight loss management tool for people struggling to prevent swelling.
The study, led by Professor John Apolza, was funded by the National Institutes of Health.
The FDA or the NHS has not approved metformin for weight loss purposes only.
However, some doctors will prescribe it to overweight or obese people with type 2 diabetes or prediabetes.
The functioning of metformin and its effect suppressing appetite or preventing the body from storing fat are not entirely clear.
In people with diabetes, metformin reduces the levels of sugar release through the liver, which prevents blood sugar from rising too high.
The body does not have to produce as much insulin, which causes excess weight by acting on the brain to cause hunger. Therefore, the patient's hunger is reduced when taking metformin.
Metformin is also used in the treatment of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), although it is not officially approved for PCOS, according to the NHS.
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