Medicine Baby Quiz | Do diabetic patients always fart after taking acarbose?

Medicine Baby Analysis

Acarbose is an α-glucosidase inhibitor. It can hinder the digestion and absorption of carbohydrates by the intestines, causing more carbohydrates to be retained in the intestines. The bifidobacteria and acidophilus in the large intestine can obtain a large amount of "food", and then multiply and decompose food residues, resulting in excessive gas production in the intestines. Therefore, patients with good intestinal function will have increased gas discharge. This is a normal phenomenon. More serious cases will have problems such as bloating, abdominal distension, diarrhea, gastrointestinal spasmodic pain, etc. This situation usually occurs within the first 2-3 weeks of treatment and will be alleviated or disappear as the medication time increases.

Acarbose is not suitable for patients with severe digestive and absorption disorders, intestinal inflammation, chronic intestinal diseases with malabsorption or indigestion, partial intestinal obstruction or tendency to intestinal obstruction, colon ulcers and intestinal flatulence.