linked to a 1.4-fold increased risk of birth defects in boys born to fathers who took the drug compared to those born to fathers who did not. Mothers in both groups did not have a family history of diabetes or hypertension.
The authors of the research and other experts highlighted many significant shortcomings in the data published in Annals of Internal Medicine. The researchers are not aware if the dads took the medicine as prescribed or had poorer control of their diabetes, which may also be associated with an increased risk of birth abnormalities. The study found no increase in the risk of infants born to males on insulin rather than metformin.
Channa Jayasena, head of andrology at Imperial College London, described the findings as “thought-provoking but inconclusive.” He added, “Men with diabetes should not be dissuaded from taking metformin, but this is worth looking at more closely”.
Metformin, which is a generic medication, is the primary therapy for type 2 diabetes, a rising global epidemic. It is mostly administered when diet and physical exercise alone are insufficient to regulate blood sugar levels and is generally used before more expensive branded diabetic medications. It works by enhancing the body’s insulin sensitivity. The medication is being administered to approximately 120 million individuals worldwide.
In a research that examined 1,116,779 births in Denmark from 1997 to 2016, the researchers discovered that 5.2 percent of newborns born to males who were taking metformin suffered birth abnormalities, notably genital problems in boys. The rate was 3.3 percent for the remainder of the population.
Babies were deemed to have been exposed to a diabetic medicine, such as metformin or insulin, if the father had taken at least one prescription prior to three months of conception, the time at which the fertilizing sperm were developing. The experts stated that further research is necessary on the subject, but recommended men on metformin to change to an alternative medication while attempting to conceive.
Maarten Wensink, the author of the research and a public health professor at the University of Southern Denmark, advised the patients saying, “If patients would like to switch to an alternative, they should contact their doctor”. According to him, the best therapy for type 2 diabetes is healthy lifestyle practices such as good diet, workouts, and weight maintenance. He added, “This could be an extra reason to put more priority on paternal health”.
