COVID-19: Metformin Might Be Useful

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 now have 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 examine suggests.

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

Lab exams confirmed that metformin considerably diminished the quantity of COVID-19 virus circulating within the physique and in addition decreased the percentages that virus ranges would rebound after an preliminary discount throughout remedy, in line with examine outcomes revealed in Scientific Infectious Ailments.

Among the many key analysis outcomes:

• On common, metformin diminished the quantity of virus within the physique nearly 4 occasions greater than the placebo tablet.
• Individuals taking metformin had been 28 p.c extra prone to have undetectable ranges of the virus of their physique at both day 5 or day 10 of the examine.
• Contributors on metformin had been 32 p.c much less prone to expertise what’s referred to as rebound — when ranges of the virus initially lower however then develop into greater once more. 

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Steve Parker, M.D.