Metformin To Treat Uveitis

Metformin is well known all over the world as one of the ace anti diabetic drugs available in the market for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. The drugs work on a simple formula of reducing blood sugar levels to help treat type 2 diabetes patients who are reported to have an abnormally high level of sugar running through their blood stream, thereby posing them at risk to incur various other serious health problems such as obesity, heart disease and infertility in women of reproductive age.

Although, metformin is a popular type 2 diabetes treatment drug, it has been found to be beneficial in the treatment of a range of different conditions and diseases such as high cholesterol, obesity, high BP, cardiovascular disease and PCOS. Many women with poly cystic ovarian syndrome or simply PCOS have been reported to have benefitted from this wonderful anti diabetic medicine and have been able to conceive using metformin on a regular basis.

However, in another breakthrough finding and research conducted by scientists at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston have found metformin to be effective in reducing the effect of uveitis in various individuals. This breakthrough discovery has been reported in Zeenews.com in their health special feature, “Diabetes drug could help prevent Uveitis”.

Uveitis is a type of eye disease the tissues just below the outer surface of the eyeball gets inflammated. It is uveitis which is mainly responsible for most of the blindness cases all over the world. So far only steroid drugs are used for the treatment of this serious macular disease. As steroid drugs contain many harmful side effects, the breakthrough finding regarding the efficacy of metformin for the treatment of uveitis is a great ray of hope and can prove to be a great boon in the field of safe uveitis treatment and prevention.

Now you must be wondering, how this type 2 diabetes treatment drug can help cure and prevent uveitis. Metformin contains special anti inflammatory properties that help in blocking the causes and effects of inflammation. As per the zeenews report, metformin works by activating an enzyme called AMPK, which in turn damps down the activity of the protein NF-kappa B. The inhibition of NF-kappa B suppresses the production of inflammatory signaling molecules — cytokines and chemokines — needed to initiate and sustain uveitis.

Since metformin being free of any toxicity or harmful side effects can be easily used as an anti-uveitis drug, just like its wide spread use as an anti diabetic medicine. Metformin dosage depends on individual condition and problem to be treated. Therefore consult your doctor before taking metformin for any of your serious health concern, whether it is diabetes, PCOS, heart disease, uveitis or you are looking to take this medicine for simple weight loss.