Diabetes Drug Metformin Does Not Cause Birth Defects

Good news for couples planning to have children while the husband is being treated for diabetes with Metformin: a new study published in the prestigious medical journal The BMJ has confirmed that using this drug does not increase the risk of birth defects in children.

The research results have brought peace of mind to millions of people with type 2 diabetes, the most common form of diabetes today.

Metformin, a popular and affordable drug commonly prescribed for type 2 diabetes, has long been the first-line treatment of choice for many patients.

However, concerns about the effects of Metformin on offspring when the father uses the drug during the time before the mother conceives remain a major question in medicine.

The three months before conception are a crucial time in sperm development and new research has shed light on this.

According to the results of monitoring more than 3 million pregnancies in Norway and Taiwan (China), researchers did not find any link between birth defects and the father's use of Metformin during this period.

This finding has great significance for families with people with diabetes, as it confirms that Metformin does not affect the health of the fetus through the father's use.

Previously, in 2022, a study by Danish scientists caused a stir when it was reported that the father's use of Metformin increased the risk of birth defects in boys by 1.4 times.

However, other studies have failed to confirm this link since then. In particular, in June, a series of studies published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine showed that metformin use by both mothers and fathers did not increase the risk of birth defects in their children.

What's special about this new study is that the scientists conducted it on two different populations in Norway and Taiwan, helping to strengthen the accuracy of the results.

Dr Allan Pacey, a male reproductive health expert at the University of Manchester, UK, said the findings were entirely plausible. "There has never been a plausible biological mechanism that would lead us to conclude that Metformin causes birth defects before," he said.

Dr. Pacey also explained that the difference in results between the 2022 study and the new study could stem from data quality.

“Both studies were very carefully done, but this new study was able to control for confounding factors more effectively,” he said.