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Metformin Versus Placebo

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Metformin versus Placebo in Obese Pregnant Women without Diabetes Mellitus

Objectives: The objective of the research article was to test the use of metformin verses a placebo as a potential solution to reducing insulin resistance in order to reduce the incidence of obesity-related complications in women during pregnancy such as gestational diabetes mellitus and excessive gestational weight gain.

Hypothesis: Researchers on the Metformin in Obese non-diabetic Pregnant Women trial hypothesized that Metformin, as compared with a placebo, would be associated with a lower median neonatal birth-weight z score when administered to pregnant women without diabetes who had a body-mass index of more than 35.

Methods: The methods used in this article was a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. From a group of 450 pregnant women without diabetes and with a BMI greater than 35, half of the group was randomly given a dose of 3.0 g of metformin per day, and the other half was randomly given a placebo per day. The metformin and placebo were given from 12 to 18 weeks gestation with a singleton fetus until the delivery. At the start of the study at 12 or 18 weeks of gestation, the BMI of each participant was measured by dividing the weight in kilograms by the square of the height in meters, BMI = weight (kg)/ height2 (m2). Randomization was achieved by using a computer to generate random numbers. …show more content…

The neonatal birth weight was compared to previously collected singleton pregnancies (72,013), which had a median birth weight of 3381 ± 563 g. The median of the birth weight taken from the metformin group was 3516g, and the median from the placebo group was 3351g. The metformin group also received a higher incidence of side effects than the placebo

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