Metformin should remain the first choice for the treatment of type 2 diabetes, even in the face of competition from a host of newer agents, concludes a new review. A professor of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, led the review, published today. "We conclude that metformin should remain the first-line therapy because its effect on HbA1c is similar to other medications.
Metformin has a long-term safety profile, it's weight neutral or helps people lose weight, it has gastrointestinal side effects but they are avoidable or tolerable, and of course metformin looks better for cardiovascular mortality than sulfonylureas," she told. Among the drugs evaluated along with metformin were the latest approvals for type 2 diabetes, including the newest class of sodium glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors, the dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitors, and…
