Why Metformin Is so Important for Prevention and Therapy in Climacteric Women

Abstract

Metformin (MET) is the most widely used oral antidiabetic agent, currently recommended as first-line therapy not only for all newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2) patients but also for prediabetic syndromes associated with insulin resistance (IR). MET has been used in the treatment of DM2 for over 50 years and has been found to be safe and efficacious both as monotherapy and in combination with other oral antidiabetic agents and insulin. Its major clinical advantage is not causing hypoglycemia or weight gain. Besides its use in DM2, there is interest in the use of MET for the treatment of polycystic ovary syndrome, diabetic nephropathy, and gestational diabetes [1]. This drug also counteracts the cardiovascular complications associated with DM2 [2]. Another possible benefit for MET use is the prevention of DM2 in obese prediabetic patients, antiproliferative effect associated with decreased cancer risk and improved cancer prognosis, and anabolic impact on bones [3, 4].