Metformin is the first-line drug of choice for patients with type 2 diabetes and plays an important role in the treatment of diabetes. This drug has been discovered for 100 years and has been clinically used for 65 years. It is a classic hypoglycemic drugs.
In addition to the good hypoglycemic effect of metformin, there is a side effect of the drug that may be experienced by diabetics who have used it, which is the feeling of “heartburn”.
The side effect of metformin is gastrointestinal reactions. Some patients will experience upper abdominal discomfort, nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, and even abdominal pain and diarrhea.
This is a real weakness for people with diabetes who require long-term medication.
There are often diabetic friends who say, “Doctor, taking this medicine to lower blood sugar is good, but it’s heartburn!”
However, in clinical treatment, diabetes doctors have found that metformin has a protective effect on the heart.
Although this heart is not the other “heart”, it can protect an organ, and it is also an additional role that drugs can play in addition to hypoglycemic.
For 65 years, the therapeutic effects of metformin have been continuously discovered, such as improving blood lipids and reducing plasma triglycerides, LDL cholesterol and total cholesterol in patients with type 2 diabetes .
Metformin has neuroprotective and antihypertensive effects. In recent years, it has also been found to inhibit the occurrence and development of tumors.
Of course metformin also has cardiovascular protective effect, but it has always been believed that the cardiovascular protective effect of metformin is due to its good hypoglycemic effect. But now, more and more evidences show that the cardioprotective effect of metformin is not a simple hypoglycemic effect, but also a good effect of improving myocardial function.
Current research shows that metformin cardiovascular protection involves multiple systems, including myocardial protection, vascular protection, and gastrointestinal mechanisms.
At the level of cardiomyocytes, the energy supply of the failing heart is insufficient, and the energy metabolism disorder involves multiple links such as substrate uptake and utilization, mitochondrial ATP generation, ATP transfer and utilization, etc. Both are possible metabolic targets for heart failure.
Basic studies have confirmed that metformin can improve cell metabolism by activating the AMPK signaling pathway and other effects on cardiac signal transduction.
In animal experiments, metformin can improve mitochondrial function, improve myocardial function, and prevent the occurrence of heart failure.
In the drug inserts and authoritative diabetes guidelines both at home and abroad, the role of metformin in the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus patients with stable chronic heart failure has been affirmed. The current treatment options for this type of heart failure are limited, and the ability of metformin to improve the clinical outcomes of these patients may bring new hope for clinical treatment.
Therefore, for diabetic patients with “heartburn”, taking it with or after meals may reduce symptoms, starting with small doses and gradually increasing the amount of medication, which can also reduce digestion tract symptoms.
Diabetes patients who can insist on taking metformin will definitely have long-term benefits.