Metformin Treatment Reduces Rates of Long-Term COVID, Study Finds

A new study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases supported by the Parsemus Foundation found a 41% reduction in long-term rates of covid among people who used metformin at the time of COVID infection.

The trial also saw a 42% reduction in emergency room visits, hospitalizations, or death among COVID-19 patients who started metformin treatment.

In the COVID-OUT study, researchers from multiple academic institutions evaluated the effectiveness of three generic drugs (metformin, ivermectin, and fluvoxamine) in adults who had been diagnosed with COVID-19 within the past three days.

The randomized, quadruplicated, placebo-controlled clinical trial was the first in the country to study whether these drugs could prevent severe outcomes and prolonged COVID.

The trial found that people who took metformin within seven days of the onset of COVID symptoms were 41% less likely to experience prolonged COVID than those who received placebo, with a 63% reduction if metformin was started at a period of four days.

“The results of this study are important because prolonged COVID can have a significant impact on people’s lives,” he claimed Carolyn BramanteMD, Principal Investigator and Associate Professor at the University of Minnesota School of Medicine.

“Metformin is an inexpensive, safe, and widely available drug, and its use as a preventative measure could have important public health implications.”

Previous data suggest that metformin’s anti-inflammatory and anti-infective properties could treat COVID-19 infection.

The antiviral effect was confirmed in a recent viral load analysis of participants in the COVID-OUT study, which is currently available as a preliminary edition.

The researchers reported a 3.6-fold decrease in the level of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in people who received metformin instead of placebo.

Three years after the pandemic, more than 6.8 million people around the world have died from the virus, and countless people continue to suffer from prolonged COVID.

Metformin is the first COVID treatment shown to reduce prolonged COVID in a randomized controlled trial, and it is safe, accessible, and inexpensive. Metformin is also one of the most prescribed drugs in the United States and around the world, taken by more than 150 million people each year.

This new treatment option is especially important for approximately one in three patients who are unable to take Paxlovid (Pfizer’s innovative COVID treatment) due to contraindicated medications or health concerns.

“Access to affordable COVID treatment is a matter of global justice. We hope that the USA. and other countries update their guidelines to include metformin as a treatment option for people with COVID-19.”added Elaine Lissnerfounder and trustee of the Parsemus Foundation, a research foundation that is part of the nonprofit coalition funding the trial.

“This would be the first universally available treatment, giving more people a tool to combat the disproportionate impact of this disease.”

Source: AP