This Anti-diabetic medication is associated with a three-times reduction in the risk of death of patients with Covid-19 and diabetes regardless of other factors such as obesity or hypertension, according to new Research
Scientists at the University of Alabama at Birmingham have come up with the antidiabetic drug that significantly reduces the risk of dying from COVID-19 regardless of other factors such as obesity or hypertension, an important weapon in tackling the pandemic
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Metformin, a widely prescribed drug for the treatment of type 2 diabetes, demonstrated a powerful weapon in the fight to tackle the COVID-19, reducing to three times the risk of death for patients with the disease of the new coronavirus.
Scientists at the University of Alabama at Birmingham have compared the effects of the two most common treatments for type 2 diabetes, insulin and metformin, and found that the latter is significantly superior. It is recalled that the risk of death from COVID-19 increases dramatically for diabetic patients.
An important further finding, according to the findings published in Frontiers in Endocrinology, was that other factors such as gender and age or conditions such as obesity, hypertension or chronic kidney disease did not affect the effectiveness of the antidiabetic drug.
The study was based on data from 604 coronavirus-positive patients between February 25 to June 22. COVID-19 and diabetes proved to be the most dangerous combination, with comorbidity being found in 67% of deaths.
The study on the effect of antidiabetic therapies showed zero effects from insulin use on the mortality index for existing insulin use.
In contrast, metformin reduced the risk of death, with a mortality rate of 11% significantly lower than 23% for the group of diabetic patients not receiving drug-based treatment.
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As Dr Anath Shalev, MD, director of the University of Alabama Center for Integrated Diabetes and lead author of the study, points out, the mechanisms responsible for the effect of metformin are still being investigated.
“The findings of this study in a racially diverse population demonstrate that diabetes is an independent risk factor associated with increased mortality in individuals with COVID-19, whereas metformin treatment is associated with dramatically reduced mortality in subjects with T2D even after correcting for multiple covariates,” says the study.
“It is possible that the anti-inflammatory and anti-thrombotic properties of metformin play an essential role,” said Dr Shalev.
Finally, the researchers highlighted the global application of the results, with similar studies in different populations internationally – including China, France and an analysis by the American healthcare company UnitedHealthcare – having come up with similar findings.
