Treating diabetes (metformin + exercise NG?)

University of Alberta ^ | August 18, 2011 | Jane Hurly

[decimon]

It’s common enough for researchers to look at the impacts of prescribed drugs on the body. And if you’re a diabetes researcher who believes that exercise has great benefits for those with type 2 diabetes, you’re hoping your research will show that. But when Normand Boulé looked at the dual impacts of exercise and metformin – two of the most commonly-prescribed modalities for glucose control – on that very outcome, the hoped-for double whammy wasn’t the result.

“The study had three objectives: we wanted to look at the effect of metformin on exercise in people with type 2 diabetes, examine the effect of exercise on metformin concentrations in the body, and finally to look at the effects of metformin and exercise on glucose control, which is essential for people with diabetes,” says Boulé, whose study – a randomized, double-blind, crossover study - involved a multi-disciplinary team of researchers from five faculties at the U of A.

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“Metformin reduces glucose in the blood and many believe it does so by activating exercise-like pathways,” explains Boulé. “As expected, in our study metformin lowered the blood glucose concentrations measured during a two-hour period after lunch. But we found that on the non-exercise day metformin led to better glucose control after lunch than on the day our participants took metformin and exercised.”

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[who knows what evil?]

Sure did...disorientation. She manages her blood sugar with supplements, exercise, and low-carb diet. NO medication whatsoever.

[353FMG]

Wow, thanks for the info. I’ve to talk to my doctor about this.

I don’t like to take medicine if I don’t need to. With proper diet and exercise I can get my blood sugar in the 80s. I sometimes wonder why I take metformin.

[jettester]

Metformin gave me gas and occasionally the runs. It actually irritated my bowel the point that my doctor thought I had internal bleeding. Had to take the “scope” early as a result - nothing showed up, except the irritated colon. It did keep my sugar down though. He put me on Januvia and sugar levels have gone back up.

[neverdem]

Boulé says despite these findings, “exercise has hundreds of benefits” and should still be an important part of a healthy approach to glucose control for those with diabetes, including those taking metformin.

The abstract is linked at the end of the presser.

FReepmail me if you want on or off the diabetes ping list.

[right way right]

“I have been taking Metformin for about four years. My blood sugar hung around the 135 area. For the past two years I have been taking a tablespoon (2000mg) of Omega3 every night. About two months ago I began taking 2000mg in the morning, too. Since then my blood sugar has been steady in the 105-110 range. I exercise moderately and can only attribute the lower blood sugar to the additional Omega3.”

I just started taking Omega 3.
Are you still taking the metformin with the Omega 3?

For me exercise is the only way I can tolerate the metformin.

Generally, just working 10-12 hours a day on my feet controls my sugar pretty good. (I am a mechanic.)

If I just lounge around on the weekend It really makes me feel really poor.

[steve86]

Nor does Metformin combined with Januvia.

We have a friend just like that. The combination is not nearly as effective as hoped. However, for my wife, just metformin alone lowered A1C to 6.5.

[Marie]

That sounds a lot like what I did. And it works. My BS is steady at 80-100. 5.5 A1C.

I was warned that my metabolism would slow down and that I’d gain weight after I stopped the diet, but the opposite held true for me. When I stopped, I could eat a LOT more than I ever could before and hardly gained weight. (and I was *seriously* bad. I have not been eating well at all! I’ve never been so hungry.) After about two months, things have finally settled down and I’m back on the diet.

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

I would suggest taking a few other common supplements to help insure things continue to be good.

1) Vitamin E shows promise for treating fatty liver disease.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2010-04-29-vitamin-e-liver_N.htm

Figure that if your pancreas had some fatty blockages, you likely also have some degree of fatty liver, which Vitamin E might be beneficial for.

2) The chemical silymarin, found in milk thistle, and available OTC under its own name, is known to be the very best liver therapeutic ever found. It has three major actions in the liver: protecting it from uptaking toxins too quickly, protecting liver cells from damage, and stimulating damage repair 30% faster than normal. As such, it is recommended for liver conditions such as cirrhosis, hepatitis damage, poisoning from mushrooms and carbon tetrachloride, and other weakening conditions, such as diabetes. It also has secondary healing effects for the kidneys.

3) Diabetes damage linked to vitamin B1 shortage.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1559766/Diabetes-damage-linked-to-vitamin-B1-shortage.html

Diabetics have three-quarters less vitamin B1 in their blood than healthy people, research has shown. A study by the University of Warwick has linked this shortfall, which occurs in sufferers with both type one and two of the disease, to damage to the kidneys, retina and nerves in the arms and legs that are all common symptoms of the disease.

4) R-Alpha Lipoic Acid. It is an OTC form of ALA which is now a standard anti-diabetic peripheral neuropathy and diabetic nephropathy treatment in much of Europe. It also improves circulation in the extremities.

[Pining_4_TX]

Just lowering the numbers does not mean that one is doing anything to arrest the course of the disease! All the hypoglycemic drugs do is treat the symptom, not the disease.

If There’s No Benefit, Why Tolerate Any Risk?

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=3232247&page=1

Also, check out the book, Overdiagnosed. http://www.amazon.com/Overdiagnosed-Making-People-Pursuit-Health/dp/0807022004

[steve86]

Just lowering the numbers does not mean that one is doing anything to arrest the course of the disease!

My wife actually felt quite sickly in the 4 or 5 years preceding going on Glucophage. It was remarkable to watch the change in her with treatment (I know this is not typical) and she still marvels about it. I will check your link, but we would never want her to go off it!

[steve86]

I liked this comment from your article:

8:37 AM EDT Jun 03, 2007 Hm; so Dr. Hadler doesn't bother treating diabetes, hypertension or hyperlipidemia. I'm sure his nephrology colleagues adore him for augmenting their dialysis practices with patients whose kidneys fail years earlier than they otherwise would. Likewise, his cardiologist friends are probably toasting his continued health, as are the vascular surgeons. I don't disagree in principle with being a "late adopter" of new therapies, but to say that "high blood sugar" does no harm marks him as foolishly antiquated.

Don't think we'll follow that doc.

[Pining_4_TX]

People are lulling themselves into a false sense of security when they use the hypoglycemic drugs to lower their numbers. That is treating the symptom, not the disease. Dr. Hadler did not say that very high blood sugar is OK; he said that the drugs don’t do anything to stop the disease progress. He also had an article published in a clinical journal for nephrologists detailing how these drugs do not save an eye, a limb, or a kidney.