Metabolic effects of drug therapy in type 2 diabetes

Mean changes in body weight (top) and fasting plasma insulin concentrations (bottom) over 6 years in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus in the primary diet failure group who were allocated to therapy with insulin (thin line), sulfonylurea (thick line), or, only in patients with obesity, metformin (dashed line). Left panels show data from patients with normal weight, right panels show data from patients with obesity. Metformin did not increase weight or raise plasma insulin. To convert plasma insulin values to microU/mL, divide by 6.