Diabetes Drug Linked to Increase in Birth Defects

A recent People article, discussed a new study that identified an apparent link between the use of a diabetes medication and an increased risk of genital defects in boys. The study, conducted by the University of Southern Denmark and Stanford University, focused on fathers who took metformin within three months of conceiving, when sperm is being developed.

The frequency of the birth defect in babies born to fathers with type 2 diabetes who didn’t take the drug was 3.3%, while those with exposure to the drug prior to conception saw an increased rate of 5.2%. It’s worth noting, however, that the increased risk if genital birth defects was only linked to boys, and no other birth defects were associated.