An Old Diabetes Drug May Protect You Against Long COVID
Prescription drugs have a funny way of surprising us with new side effects—even if they’ve been on the market for decades. Viagra started as a treatment for high blood pressure before it was discovered to have stimulating effects for men. A common liver drug was recently found to help protect against the coronavirus. Now, another drug that protects against long COVID might soon join its ranks.
Researchers from across the U.S. published a pre-print on Dec. 24 that found that metformin, a commonly prescribed diabetes drug, might greatly reduce your chances of getting long COVID by more than 40 percent. While further research is needed to verify the clinical trial findings, it could help shed light on a very effective method of preventing the pernicious post-COVID symptoms that currently impact 1 in 13 adults in the U.S..
The researchers wanted to see if it was possible to identify any medications that might be able to prevent the onset of long COVID symptoms from manifesting even after the virus had been eradicated from the body.
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