Type 2 diabetes, also known as adult-onset diabetes, mostly develops after the age of 35 to 40 and accounts for more than 90% of diabetic patients. type 2 diabetes is mostly seen in obese patients. the ability of the body to produce insulin is not low in the early stages of type 2 diabetes, and some patients even produce too much insulin in the body, but the sensitivity of the surrounding tissues to insulin decreases, resulting in a poorer effect of its hypoglycemic effect, so patients body is a relative lack of insulin and can stimulate the secretion of endogenous insulin from the pancreas by taking certain drugs. However, in the later stage, even if patients take certain drugs, some patients still have insufficient insulin secretion and have increased fasting and postprandial glucose, which requires insulin replacement therapy. Sulfonylureas and insulins, as well as other hypoglycemic agents, have the side effect of increasing body weight, while metformin is the only hypoglycemic agent that does not increase body weight, and in most cases, metformin can lead to weight loss in some patients. The mechanism of metformin weight loss is not well understood, and may be related to its mechanism of improving the sensitivity of peripheral tissues to insulin without affecting insulin secretion, and thus to achieve lowering of blood glucose. It may also be related to its ability to cause gastrointestinal reactions such as abdominal distension and nausea, and to achieve weight loss by suppressing the patient’s appetite.
Therefore, metformin is indicated for obese patients with type II diabetes.