Metformin vs. Covid
Diabetes drug reduces mortality from COVID-19 by three times
Svetlana Maslova, Hi-tech+
The effect of taking the medication persisted despite age, gender, obesity, hypertension and various severe chronic diseases. When scientists compared the results with taking another common remedy for diabetes, it turned out that it did not affect the mortality risks in any way.
Patients with diabetes mellitus belong to the group of increased risk of mortality from COVID-19. For example, in a new study by American scientists who observed more than 25 thousand patients with COVID-19, 67% of those who died had diabetes. The authors wanted to find out whether diabetes medications have an effect on mortality from coronavirus infection. For evaluation, they chose two of the most common medications – metformin and insulin. The team's findings (Crouse et al., Metformin Use Is Associated With Reduced Mortality in a Diverse Population With COVID-19 and Diabetes) are published in the journal Frontiers in Endocrinology, a press release Metformin use reduces risk of death for patients with COVID-19 and diabetes – on the website of the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
The total mortality in the sample of 25,236 people was 11%, of which 93% were people over 50 years old. Increased mortality risks were most typical for men with high blood pressure and/or a history of diabetes.
Observations have shown that taking metformin before the diagnosis of COVID-19 was associated with a threefold decrease in mortality among diabetics.
Most importantly, the effect persisted despite age, gender, obesity, hypertension, chronic kidney disease and heart failure. When scientists evaluated the effect of taking insulin on reducing mortality, they did not find any positive changes.
"Diabetes is an independent risk factor for mortality from COVID-19, but it is significantly reduced when taking metformin," Anat Shalev, the author of the study, commented on the results. The findings of the study also confirm earlier observations by other scientists from China and France, he added.
Meanwhile, researchers cannot yet explain the protective mechanism of metformin in COVID-19. Probably, the effect is provided due to anti-inflammatory and antithrombotic action. Further research will allow us to determine this precisely.
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