Antihyperglycemic drugs useful in controlling elevated blood glucose levels in type 2 diabetes mellitus. One such drug is metformin.
Oral hypoglycemic agents; medications for the treatment of type 2 (non-insulin-independent or adult- onset) diabetes. Biguanides make up one of five classes of oral medications used to treat diabetes. Oral hypoglycemic agents are not oral insulin but are medications designed to help reduce blood sugar levels when diet and exercise alone are not enough. Biguanides are effective only if the pancreas is still producing some insulin, as is generally the case with middle-aged and older people with diabetes. People with type 1 diabetes do not secrete enough insulin for the oral medications to be effective.
Biguanides are a group of drugs, of which metformin is the only one available for treatment, used to treat non-insulin-dependent diabetics who are overweight, when strict dieting and treatment with sulphonylureas have failed. Metformin acts mainly by reducing gluconeogenesis and by increasing the rate at which the body uses up glucose. Hypoglycaemia (low blood sugar) is unusual, unless taken in overdose. Side-effects such as anorexia, nausea, vomiting and transient diarrhoea are common initially and may persist, particularly if large doses are taken. Metformin should not be given to patients with renal failure, in whom there is a danger of inducing lactic acidosis.
A member of the class of oral antihyperglycemic agents that works by limiting glucose production and glucose absorption, and by increasing the body’s sensitivity to insulin. Glucophage is one member of this drug class.
Medications taken orally to manage type 2 diabetes mellitus, which is non-insulin-dependent, are known as oral hypoglycemic drugs. Among them, metformin represents the sole available type of biguanide medication. Metformin functions by diminishing the liver’s glucose (sugar) production while simultaneously enhancing the absorption of glucose by the body’s cells.