Type 2 diabetes: diabetes medications and their effect on blood fat levels
Researchers at the Shiga University of Medical Sciences in Shiga Prefecture, Japan, found that taking metformin before meals helped reduce the increase in blood fat levels seen after meals in eleven participants who had been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Their study was reported in January 2019 in the Journal of Diabetes Research. Metformin is the first drug of choice prescribed to control type 2 diabetes.
The average body mass index (BMI) of the participants was approximately 28 kg / square meter, or overweight but not obese. When they were given metformin before a meal, their blood triglycerides, a type of fat, increased less than when they took the drug after the meal. Participants also reported feeling more satisfied after the meal with no complaints of heaviness or heartburn. From these results, the researchers concluded that taking metformin before meals could help lower triglycerides, helping to prevent high triglyceride levels after meals without causing an upset stomach.
When food is not burned for energy, is stored in the form of triglycerides that tend to be high in the blood of people who have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Insulin helps triglycerides enter cells for energy, as well as helps transport the sugar. Insulin resistance, the cause of type 2 diabetes, raises sugar and triglyceride levels. Other health conditions associated with high triglycerides include …
- metabolic syndrome,
- low thyroid hormone level (hypothyroidism)
- genetic diseases (rare),
- a diet high in carbohydrates,
- obesity,
- medicines
- diuretics
- estrogen and progestin (female hormones),
- retinoids (vitamin A),
- steroids (certain hormones),
- beta blockers,
- some immunosuppressants, and
- some AIDS medicines.
A normal triglyceride level falls below 150 mg / dL or 1.7 mmol / L …
- between 150 and 199 mg / dL or 1.8 to 2.2 mmol / L, is considered borderline.
- between 200 and 499 mg / dL, or 2.3 to 5.6 mmol / L is high, and
- 500 mg / dL, or 5.7 mmol / L or more, is very high.
Having high levels of triglycerides in the blood. increases the risk of heart and blood vessel diseases that can lead to heart attacks and strokes. Ways to combat high triglyceride levels include …
- normalize your weight to a BMI of between 18.5 and 24.9 kg / square meter,
- switch from solid to liquid fats: eliminate red meat and use olive or other vegetable oil instead of butter,
- avoiding alcohol,
- avoiding refined carbohydrate products,
- exercise at least 30 minutes a day,
- medicines
- Lipitor (atorvastatin),
- Lescol (fluvastatin),
- Mevacor (lovastatin),
- Livalo (pitavastatin),
- Pravachol (pravastatin),
- Zocor (simvastatin),
- Crestor (rosuvastatin),
- Lopid (gemfibrozil) and
- Antara, Lofibra, Triglide (fenofibrate).