Side Effects:

Common Weight gain, Blurred vision, Respiratory tract infection, Numbness, Bone fracture.

Expert advice for Opam Tablet
Opam helps to control blood sugar level and avoids long-term complications. You should continue to exercise regularly, eat a healthy diet, and take your other diabetes medicines along with Opam. Full effect may be visible after several weeks of starting Opam. Weight gain, headache, and swelling due to fluid build-up may occur. Notify your doctor if you experience shortness of breath, heart problems, or any abnormal swelling. May not be suitable for patients with a history of heart failure or bladder cancer.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. Is Opam a blood thinner?
No. Opam is an anti-diabetic medication. Blood thinners are the medicine that prevents the formation of a harmful blood clot. These include medicines like Aspirin, Heparin and Warfarin.

Q. Is Opam a diuretic?
No. Opam is not a diuretic. It is used in the treatment of Diabetes Mellitus. Diuretics are those medicine which increases urination.

Q. Can Opam used in Hepatitis B infection?
Some studies have shown that Opam may be helpful in preventing Hepatitis B Virus-associated Hepatocellular Cancer (Liver Cancer). However, these findings are still very preliminary and clear role has not been established.

Q. Can Opam used in Hepatitis C infection?
Opam has been shown to inhibit Liver Cancer (HCC) recurrence in overweight Hepatitis C Virus-infected diabetic patients. It also improved insulin resistance (a state where the body is resistant to the effects and functions of the insulin hormone) in them.

Q. Can Opam used along with Vitamin D?
Studies indicate that Vitamin-D combined with Opam may be more effective in improving Bone Mineral Density and Bone Metabolism than Vitamin-D or Opam alone in the treatment of Diabetes Mellitus patients with kidney dysfunction (Diabetic Nephropathy).

Q. Can Opam be used along with sitagliptin?
Combination therapy with Sitagliptin and Opam leads to a substantial and sustained improvement in glycemic (blood sugar) control compared to the treatment with Opam alone. This is useful for patients who cannot tolerate Metformin or Sulfonylureas.

Q. Is there any role of Opam in Alzheimer disease?
Recent evidence suggests that Opam may be beneficial in Alzheimer's disease (AD), decreasing the cognitive decline early in the disease process. However, larger studies are now in progress to establish the same.

Q. Can Opam and repaglinide combined in diabetes treatment?
For patients who previously failed oral antidiabetic therapy, the combination of Repaglinide and Opam have acceptable safety, with greater reductions of glycemic parameters (blood sugar levels) than using either agent alone.

Q. Does Opam cause urinary bladder tumour?
Large population studies indicate that Opam is associated with an increased risk of bladder cancer. The absence of an association of bladder cancer with the other drug of the same class, Rosiglitazone, suggests that the increased risk is drug specific and not a class effect.

Q. Are Opam and rosiglitazone same?
Opam & Rosiglitazone both belong to a class of antidiabetics called Thiazolidinediones. Rosiglitazone has been removed from the market because using this drug was associated with increased risk of cardiovascular events like heart attack and stroke. This is not seen with Opam.

Q. Can Opam be used along with glimepiride in diabetes?
Opam when added to Glimepiride in Patients with Diabetes Mellitus, has been found to significantly reduce plasma lipid levels and significant improvement in blood pressure control related to a reduction in the insulin resistance.

Q. Is Opam a steroid?
No. Opam is not a steroid. It is an anti-diabetic medication which belongs to the class of thiazolidinediones.

Q. How to use Opam?
Opam is an anti-diabetes drug used along with a proper diet and exercise program to control high blood sugar in patients with type 2 diabetes. Opam acts as an insulin sensitizer and decreases the extent of insulin resistance in the body too.

Q. How safe is Opam?
Opam cardiovascular safety profile compares favourably with that of Rosiglitazone. Opam has been found to be associated with bladder tumours but causality assessment has not been proved yet.

Q. How does Opam cause oedema?
Opam increases the permeability of fluid in tiny blood vessels called capillaries. This results in easier movement of fluids across the membrane and their consequent accumulation, resulting in oedema (puffiness). Also, Opam causes increased sodium and water reabsorption from the kidney that contributes to the oedema.

Q. How does Opam cause bladder cancer?
The mechanism behind the link between Opam use and bladder cancer is still unknown. Studies have suggested that use of Opam for more than one year results in increased risk of development of tumour of the urinary bladder.

Q. How does Opam cause heart failure?
Opam can cause fluid retention and edema. Consequently, there is a lot of fluid in the body (fluid overload). As a result, it may precipitate heart failure (which worsens with fluid overload in those at risk).

Q. How Opam protects against atherosclerosis?
Studies in animals have concluded that Opam improves the elasticity of the aortic wall ( the aorta is a large blood vessel that arises from the heart and supplies oxygenated blood to the rest of the body). This may be a mechanism by which it protects against atherosclerosis, but more studies are needed to confirm this.

Q. Can Opam be used with insulin?
The addition of Opam reduces daily insulin dosages, but study findings have not been consistent. Improvement of lipid profiles has also been weak with this combination therapy. Long-term studies are needed before any conclusions can be reached. Combination therapy should be primarily used for patients who achieve an insufficient reduction in blood sugar with insulin alone.

Q. Which is not safe in heart failure, Opam or rosiglitazone?
Opam & Rosiglitazone both belong to a class of antidiabetics called Thiazolidinediones. Rosiglitazone has been removed from the market because using this drug was associated with increased risk of cardiovascular events like heart attack and stroke. Opam can cause heart failure too, but the risk is less that that with Rosiglitazone. Both the medicines should be avoided in heart failure.

Q. What are the alternatives to Opam?
Fortunately, there are many alternatives to Opam- Metformin, Acarbose, Sitagliptin, Exenatide, Insulin or combination therapies of these medicines can be used.

Q. Can Opam used for dementia?
Findings indicate that Opam treatment is associated with a reduced dementia risk in Diabetes mellitus patients. Prospective studies are needed to evaluate a possible neuroprotective effect in these patients in an ageing population.

Q. Can Opam used for infertility?
Opam may be of use in infertile patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) who are resistant to conventional ovulation induction such as by drugs like Clomiphene, Dexamethasone, or Metformin.

Q. Can Opam used for psoriasis?
The use of Opam for plaque psoriasis treatment is controversial. Some studies revealed no effect of Opam 30 mg daily neither on the clinical response of moderate-to-severe psoriasis whereas others demonstrate that it could be considered as an efficacious and safe agent for the treatment of plaque psoriasis.

Q. Can Opam used for autism?
In a research study in a small number of autistic children, daily treatment with 30 or 60 mg Opam for 3–4 months induced apparent clinical improvement. Opam should be considered for further testing of therapeutic potential in autistic patients but as of now, autism is not an approved indication for Opam use.

Q. Can Opam be used in depression?
Opam, either alone or as add-on therapy to conventional treatments, could clinically benefit patients of major depression according to a study.

Q. Can Opam used for weight loss?
A recent study shows that although Opam causes a significant decrease in blood sugar, HbA1C and lipid levels, it is associated with weight gain, which would limit its utility. It has not been shown to cause weight loss.

Q. Can Opam be used to treat fatty liver?
Opam has also been used to treat non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (fatty liver), but this use is presently considered experimental.

Q. Can Opam be used for secondary stroke prevention?
Opam reduces recurrent stroke and major vascular events in stroke patients with insulin resistance, prediabetes, and diabetes mellitus. However, its use as a preventive therapy requires more research.