Cheap diabetes drug cuts risk of long Covid by 40 per cent, study shows
- The findings on metformin – the most common medication for treating type 2 diabetes – could be a ‘landmark’ in the fight against the little-understood condition
- The drug was not tested on people who had already been diagnosed with long Covid, so the findings did not mean it could be used as a treatment
People who took a cheap diabetes drug after testing positive for Covid-19 had a 40 per cent lower risk of getting long Covid, a US-based study said Friday.
The finding was hailed as a potential “landmark” in the fight against the still little-understood condition, which the World Health Organization estimates affects one in 10 people who get Covid.
The study said it was the first randomised, placebo-controlled phase 3 trial – considered the gold standard in research – to show that taking a drug can prevent long Covid.
It tested a drug called metformin, which was originally developed from the French lilac flower, and has been the most common medication used to treat type 2 diabetes across the world for decades.
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This means the drug is known to be safe, as well as being inexpensive and widely available.