Metformin may help obese teen girls lose weight

By Michelle Rizzo

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The addition of the type 2 diabetes drug metformin to a lifestyle modification program may help female adolescents lose weight loss if they also make dietary changes, according to a new study.

Metformin is primarily used to lower blood sugar in patients with type 2 diabetes.

In the current study, researchers evaluated the effect of adding metformin versus placebo to a program of personal diet and exercise goal-setting for 85 obese adolescents with insulin resistance, a precursor to diabetes. Of the 85 subjects, 71 percent were female.

Goal-setting alone did not lead to significant weight loss, the research team reports in the Journal of Pediatrics.

However, a significant decrease in body weight was seen in girls receiving metformin but not in those receiving placebo. Sixty percent of participants who took metformin as prescribed and who cut back on their food portion sizes had a decrease in body mass index of more than 5 percent.

"Current options for weight loss medications are fairly expensive and not typically covered by insurance plans," Dr. Kathryn Love-Osborne, of Denver Health and Hospitals in Colorado, who was involved in the study, noted in comments to Reuters Health. "As such, medications are not readily accessible to low-income patients who are at higher risk for obesity-related complications."

"The availability of a safe, inexpensive medication that might provide added benefit for patients that are motivated to make modest lifestyle changes would be a welcome addition to the options available to primary care providers working to improve the health of obese teens," the researcher concluded.

SOURCE: Journal of Pediatrics, June 2008.