Benefits of diabetes drug don't depend on weight

NEW YORK, Nov 18 (Reuters) The diabetes drug metformin is at least as effective in normal and overweight patients as it is in obese patients, according to a report by Australian researchers in the journal Diabetes Care.

Although metformin is a first-line therapy for obese patients with type 2 diabetes, the authors point out, there is little information about the effectiveness of metformin in patients who are not obese.

Dr Cynthia R Ong from Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney, and colleagues used a database to compare the long-term outcomes of metformin therapy in 644 type 2 diabetics who were normal weight, overweight or obese.

Metformin provided comparable long-term control of blood sugar levels in obese and non-obese patients, the report indicates.

Moreover, it was just as effective in both groups at preventing diabetes complications.

Obese patients lost more weight than did nonobese patients on metformin, the researchers note, but patients who were not obese at the beginning of the study remained thinner throughout follow-up than those who started out obese.

The patients who weren't obese were able to maintain their glucose levels without requiring other drugs for a longer duration than obese patients.

''Metformin is at least as efficacious in the nonobese as it is in the obese,'' the authors conclude. ''This study provides evidence-based data to support metformin use in nonobese individuals who have type 2 diabetes.'' REUTERS DKA BST0943