Weight Loss: A Common Side Effect of Diabetes Medications

Over the last few years, a side effect of several forms of diabetes medications, such as Metformin and Exenatide (Byetta), has been observed to be a decrease in appetite. This side effect is not an unpleasant one, necessarily, as it seems to make losing weight a little bit easier for the diabetes sufferers who are taking these types of drugs. For one thing, weight loss is often the goal of diabetes sufferers, since diabetes symptoms worsen when there is too much weight on the body, but for another thing, it is good for the overall health to be able to lose weight effectively and easily. It is not yet clear how these drugs are promoting weight loss, but early research is revealing that people taking these drugs to treat type 2 diabetes have reduced levels of appetite and hunger. Thus, people following using these treatments for type 2 diabetes tend to consume fewer calories throughout the day. Though some of these drugs are taken via injection, they are not insulin. They often work to mimic incretin hormones, which are gastrointestinal hormones cause an increase in the amount of insulin released by the body. Because of their similarity to incretin hormones, these type 2 diabetes medications may also slow the rate of absorption of nutrients into the blood stream and may directly reduce food intake. Studies on patients taking Byetta demonstrated that it was capable of not only improving control over blood sugar levels, but that weight loss was also a consistent occurrence. Though the study did not identify exactly how Byetta accomplished this second action, it is believed that because the drug causes foot to move more slowly from the stomach into the intestine, people feel full more quickly when they eat, and they maintain this feeling for a longer period of time. Therefore, people on the drug are inclined to eat less. Other side effects noticed within the study were nausea to a mild-to-moderate degree, but within the majority of cases, this sensation diminished. Pancreatitis (the inflammation of the pancreas to a harmful degree) was an additional rare side effect. These drugs were, however, developed specifically to treat individuals suffering from type 2 diabetes and no studies have yet been done to consider these drugs as a weight loss medications for individuals who are overweight but do not suffer from type 2 diabetes. If you would like to consider a drug, such as Exenatide or Metformin in order to treat your type 2 diabetes with the hopes of benefiting from the weight loss assistance as well, it is important to speak with your doctor as there are many issues to take into account.