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Trial suggests metformin effective at reducing odds of serious outcomes for COVID-19 patients seeking early treatment
[Med Press] In work published in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers—led by the University of Minnesota Medical School and School of Public Health—have found that metformin, a commonly prescribed diabetes medication lowers the odds of emergency department visits, hospitalizations, or death due to COVID-19 by over 40 percent—and over 50 percent if prescribed early in onset of symptoms.
"We are pleased to contribute to the body of knowledge around COVID-19 therapies in general, with treatments that are widely available," said Carolyn Bramante, MD, principal investigator of the study and an assistant professor of internal medicine and pediatrics at the U of M Medical School. "Our trial suggests that metformin may reduce the likelihood of needing to go to the emergency room or be hospitalized for COVID-19." Bramante noted that this was a secondary outcome of the trial; the primary outcome included whether someone had low oxygen on a home oxygen monitor, and none of the medications in the trial prevented the primary outcome. The COVID-OUT trial was the nation's first to study whether metformin, a medication for type 2 diabetes; low-dose fluvoxamine, an antidepressant; and ivermectin, an antiparasitic, or their combinations could serve as possible treatments to prevent ER visits or hospitalization, as well as Long-COVID. The study design was simple—patients were randomly assigned to receive one of the three drugs individually, placebo, or a combination of metformin and fluvoxamine or metformin and ivermectin. Although the study was placebo-controlled with exact-matching placebo pills, Dr. Bramante says 83% of volunteers received medications supported by existing data because of the six-arm design. Each participant received 2 types of pills to keep their treatment assignment masked, for 3 to 14 days of treatment. Each volunteer tracked their symptoms, and after 14 days, they completed a survey. Related: Ivermectin: 2022-07-15 Court: Air Force Cannot Discharge Troops Who Filed for Religious Exemptions from Vaccine Mandate Ivermectin: 2022-07-01 NH Gov. Sununu signs pair of bills related to vaccine mandates, vetoes ivermectin legislation Ivermectin: 2022-02-24 Football club bans players who have taken the coronary vaccine Posted by: Besoeker 2022-08-20 |
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