Diabetes Drug Reduced COVID-19 Fatalities

A new study at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) found the diabetes drug metformin was associated with a threefold decrease in mortality in COVID-19 patients with Type 2 diabetes.

After controlling for other covariates, age, and gender, metformin use reduced fatalities with an odds ratio of 0.33 for Type 2 diabetes subjects, compared with those who did not take metformin, concluded these UAB researchers on January 13, 2021.

“This beneficial effect remained, even after correcting for age, sex, race, obesity, and hypertension or chronic kidney disease and heart failure,” added Anath Shalev, M.D., director of UAB’s Comprehensive Diabetes Center and leader of the study, in a press statement.

Metformin helps control the amount of glucose (sugar) in your blood. It decreases the amount of glucose you absorb from your food and the amount of glucose made by your liver. Metformin also increases your body's response to insulin, a natural substance that controls the amount of glucose in the blood states MedlinePlus.