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| Science & Technology | |
| Trial suggests metformin effective at reducing odds of serious outcomes for COVID-19 patients seeking early treatment | |
| 2022-08-20 | |
[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 |
| #6 This is not the trial I'm interested in. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2022-08-20 10:50 |
| #5 Biden admin said yesterday that the government will stop paying for covid test and treatments. So it would be about time for them to start pushing generic drugs. |
| Posted by: Chris 2022-08-20 10:28 |
| #4 I take it twice daily. For diabetes. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2022-08-20 10:25 |
| #3 Great. Now metformin will be silently made illegal. |
| Posted by: Angstrom 2022-08-20 09:52 |
| #2 I smell bull shit here big time. Like the Univ. of Minnesota doesn't get one thin dime in grants from the feds. But, hmmm, I thought diabetics were at high risk. Then there's this gem which Tony Science couldn't have said better himself: "Although we know COVID-19 vaccines are highly effective...." |
| Posted by: DooDahMan 2022-08-20 09:35 |
| #1 Metformin is an inexpensive generic drug. And therefore will be pilloried by our elites (and media). |
| Posted by: Mullah Richard 2022-08-20 08:09 |