COVID-19: Metformin Might Be Useful

September 23, 2024 · 10:05 AM

If reminiscence serves, once I began my medical profession in 1981 we solely had three courses of medication for treating diabetes: insulin, sulfonylureas, and metformin. We have now so many choices now, that I’ve misplaced observe. From On a regular basis Well being earlier this 12 months:

Metformin, a decades-old generic drug for kind 2 diabetes, may assist deal with COVID-19, a brand new research suggests.

Scientists on the College of Minnesota randomly assigned greater than 1,300 adults with COVID-19 to take metformin or a placebo capsule. All the members took nasal swab exams for viral ranges after 1, 5, and 10 days.

Lab exams confirmed that metformin considerably lowered the quantity of COVID-19 virus circulating within the physique and likewise decreased the chances that virus ranges would rebound after an preliminary discount throughout remedy, in accordance with research outcomes printed in Medical Infectious Ailments.

Among the many key analysis outcomes:

On common, metformin lowered the quantity of virus within the physique virtually 4 instances greater than the placebo capsule.
Individuals taking metformin had been 28 % extra prone to have undetectable ranges of the virus of their physique at both day 5 or day 10 of the research.
Members on metformin had been 32 % much less prone to expertise what’s referred to as rebound — when ranges of the virus initially lower however then turn out to be larger once more.

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Steve Parker, M.D.