Metformin use by overweight or obese patients reduces the risk of developing long Covid by around 41%, according to the findings of a recent randomised, placebo-controlled trial.
Published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, the study followed up on previous research which sought to determine whether the use of metformin, ivermectin or fluvoxamine prevented the primary outcome. These were the occurrence of hypoxemia, an emergency department visit, hospitalisation, or death associated with Covid-19. The researchers concluded that none of three drugs reduced the primary outcome.
For the follow-up study, the same researchers followed a subgroup of patients for 300 days to assess if any of the drugs would prevent long Covid. The participants were adults aged 30-85 years with overweight or obesity and with Covid symptoms for less than seven days. In the original trial, metformin was titrated up to a dose of 1,500 mg daily and the subsequent development of long Covid was physician diagnosed. The design of the original trial enabled a comparison of metformin use with a matching placebo and the findings of the current study largely relate to metformin.
