Paternal metformin use associated with major birth defects (2022) | Hacker News Reader

Paternal metformin use associated with major birth defects (2022)

medicalxpress.com

17 pointsOutOfHere7 comments

Isn't that interesting. Usually these things are maternal, because that's where most of the work happens and it's easy to jam up. But here is something that affects sperm development in a way that doesn't break the sperm completely, just breaks the resulting babies. Must be a complicated pathway.

From my reading of various research etc, metformin has some marginal beneficial effect to blood sugar levels, but it is not clear cut as perhaps you might think. In comparison, what IS undeniably effective is making simple lifestyle changes like going for a walk after a meal, not eating right before bedtime, doing some simple resistance training etc. These have much more measurable effects than metformin, with none of the potential downsides.

It’s on the World Health Organization list of essential medicines. 150M people rely on it to manage their diabetes. It’s been prescribed for 65 years.

Forgive me if I’m highly sceptical of your assertion that going for a walk after meals is an alternative to Metformin.

In 65 years Ozempic will have been in use for 65+ years to help people lose weight, but that won’t make it untrue that going for a walk helps you lose weight.

One needs to measure their HbA1c at home every few months to tell whether one still needs the prescription medicine. Seniors with low protein intake or low exercise will find that diabetes comes easily.

Obviously all processed carbs and red meat need to be cut out.

Vitamin B1 as thiamine is fairly important for glucose utilization. The benfotiamine form is additionally important.

There are just so many supplements for glucose regulation. I got my fasting glucose into the 80s by relying on psyllium husk and acacia fibers.

Ceylon cinnamon is good for post-meal glucose reduction.

That makes sense. Metformin is used as a testosterone lowering drug for feminizing masculine females with PCOS. If it's strong enough to help get rid of a beard on a very hairy woman, it's probably going to do something to a male even though they might otherwise have more testosterone to spare.

Things that lower sperm count don't usually cause birth defects AFAIK

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