Tuesday 4 October 2022 01:39 AM DR MARTIN SCURR answers your health questions trends now
I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes last year and was prescribed 500mg metformin daily. But I decided to overhaul my lifestyle by eating healthily and, as a result, have lost 2st and my HbA1c score has dropped from 92 to 36. So should I keep taking metformin, or can I stop?
Des Pike, Pontypool, Torfaen.
What an outstanding achievement and I applaud your effort and commitment.
Type 2 diabetes is a serious condition that is affecting rising numbers of people in the UK, thanks mainly to surging obesity rates.
The condition causes blood sugar (glucose) to rise to dangerously high levels.
While many people experience few, if any, symptoms, these high levels can cause major complications if not controlled — including damage to the eyes and nervous system, along with increased risk of heart disease through rapidly accelerating atherosclerosis (where the arteries become furred up).
In type 2 diabetes, the body stops responding properly to insulin, a hormone that helps mop up glucose from the blood, transporting it to the muscle cells where it’s used for energy. Instead, glucose builds up in the body, causing long-term damage.
Type 2 diabetes is a serious condition that is affecting rising numbers of people in the UK, thanks mainly to surging obesity rates
One marker of diabetes is sugar in the urine. A blood sugar test may then be carried out to confirm the diagnosis.
But this is a snapshot result, and a more telling result comes from an HbA1c blood test, which gives a measure of your average blood sugar level over the previous two or three months.
People diagnosed with type 2 diabetes are recommended to get their HbA1c level below 48mmol/mol.
Your outstanding self-control has lowered yours from 92 to just 36mmol/mol, effectively placing you in ‘remission’.
But you will need to stick to your lifestyle and diet plan or your weight will increase again and your diabetes could return.
As for whether or not you should keep taking metformin, you must accept the advice of your GP, but I would anticipate the prescription will cease if regular HbA1c tests confirm your readings remain in the safe zone.
Your outstanding self-control has lowered yours from 92 to just 36mmol/mol, effectively placing you in ‘remission’. But you will need to stick to
