In the past two days, A diabetic friend has left me a message, asking me to talk about the problem of metformin sustained release tablets causing cancer. Because I mentioned this in May and June 2020. At that time, this problem was mentioned because the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that the 5 types of metformin extended-release tablets produced in the United States exceeded the standard of nitrosamine impurities, and recommended that manufacturers recall these drugs.
Because it is a product of the United States, the United States has actually been ahead of our country on the issue of drug safety, and after the FDA announced, China's Food and Drug Administration did not issue a similar announcement.
If a diabetic friend asks me, I will tell them about this situation, if you have doubts about metformin extended-release tablets, you can switch to ordinary tablets or enteric-coated tablets, after all, metformin dosage forms are still relatively large, and the choice is relatively large.
As the first-line drug recommended by our national diabetes prevention and treatment guidelines, metformin has an exact hypoglycemic effect, is convenient to take, inexpensive, has no risk of hypoglycemia, and can be combined with a variety of hypoglycemic drugs with different mechanisms of action. In the second drug collection, the price was significantly lower, so that diabetic friends can treat diabetes at a lower cost.
In the process of long-term use, it was also found that it has the advantages of weight loss, improving insulin resistance, improving intestinal flora, fighting cancer, and prolonging life, which was once called "miracle drug". Its anti-cancer effect and the carcinogenic effect of metformin extended-release tablets will affect diabetes.
Today, I saw a report from Guangming Network that "many manufacturers of metformin extended-release tablets do not detect nitrosamine impurities, which does not mean that there are none."
Nitrosamine impurities are listed as Primary Carcinogens by the World Health Organization, and there is a carcinogenic risk with long-term use.
The FDA detected ndma (n-nitrosodimethylamine) on the List of Carcinogens by the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer as early as 1987 and was found in water, food, bacon, roast meat, dairy products and vegetables.
The acceptable ingestion limit for NDMA is 96 ng per day, and long-term exposure to NDMA above acceptable levels may increase the risk of cancer.
Xu Xiaoli of the School of Pharmacy of Chongqing Medical University has been studying the content of ndma in metformin hydrochloride extended-release tablets of different manufacturers, and found that in 2018, the n-nitrosodimethylamine exceeding the limit rate in Metformin extended-release tablets in China was 100%. But there is good news, Professor Xu Xiaoli's research also shows that the over-limit rate of n-nitrosodimethylamine in 2019 is 50.0%, and the over-limit rate in 2020 is 45.2%, which shows that under the role of national policy regulation, enterprises have begun to pay attention to the quality of metformin extended-release tablets and began to strictly control the amount of n-nitrosodimethylamine.
But it should also be said that the public, including doctors, does not yet have full right to know about the risks of this issue.
Diabetics themselves increase the incidence of cancer as the course of the disease is prolonged, and the contribution of how many metformin extended-release tablets is not fully certain in the short term. This requires the State Food and Drug Administration to carry out technical control and control the safe use of drugs for 116 million diabetic patients.
I am Dr. Sun who loves life and food, and continues to provide you with high-quality sugar control knowledge. The increasing number of metabolic diseases such as diabetes and obesity affects the quality of life and family happiness. Good control of blood sugar and weight is the root of treatment.
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