Patients treated with a drug widely prescribed
for type 2 diabetes can live longer than people without the condition, a
large-scale study involving over 180,000 people has shown.
The findings indicate that a drug known as
metformin, used to control glucose levels in the body and already known to
exhibit anticancer properties, could offer prognostic and prophylactic benefits
to people without diabetes.
Scientists from Cardiff University set out to
compare the survival of diabetes patients prescribed with metformin with
patients prescribed with another common diabetes drug called sulphonylurea.
The life expectancy of these cohorts was also
compared against non-diabetics who were matched based on criteria that included
age, gender, same general practice, smoking status and clinical status.
"Patients treated with metformin had a small but
statistically significant improvement in survival compared with the cohort of
non-diabetics, whereas those treated with sulphonylureas had a consistently
reduced survival compared with non-diabetic patients," said lead author
Professor Craig Currie from Cardiff University's School of Medicine.
"This was true even without any clever
statistical manipulation.
"Surprisingly, the findings indicate that this
cheap and widely prescribed diabetic drug may have beneficial effects not only
on patients with diabetes but also for people without, and interestingly, people
with type 1 diabetes," said Currie.
"Metformin has been shown to have anti-cancer
and anti-cardiovascular disease benefits. It can also reduce pre-diabetics'
chances of developing the disease by a third.
"This does not mean that people with type 2
diabetes get off Scott free. Their disease will progress and they will be
typically switched to more aggressive treatments.
"People lose on average around eight years from
their life expectancy after developing diabetes. The best way to avoid the
condition altogether is by keeping moderately lean and taking some regular light
exercise," Currie said.
The study was published in the journal
Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism.
