Metformin is a medication often prescribed to type 2 diabetic patients to help with blood glucose levels.1 Some studies have suggested that metformin might have additional health benefits beyond managing type 2 diabetes, such as a reduced risk for cardiovascular disease or cancer.2
To better understand whether there might be a correlation between metformin use and the incidence of aging-related disease, we studied 3,082,664 patients diagnosed with type 2 diabetes at age 40 or older between January 1, 2017, and June 30, 2023. We compared the relative risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease, and Alzheimer’s disease between patients prescribed metformin compared to patients not prescribed metformin. We excluded patients who had the condition of interest previously diagnosed from the analysis for that diagnosis. We adjusted for patient age, sex, race, ethnicity, body-mass index, initial hemoglobin A1c at diagnosis, and smoking status.
We found that type 2 diabetic patients prescribed metformin were less likely to be diagnosed with all three conditions assessed compared to those not prescribed metformin. Patients on metformin were 17% less likely to be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, 22% less likely to be diagnosed with cancer, and 39% less likely to be diagnosed with cardiovascular disease, as shown in Figure 1.
This study did not investigate other outcomes, side effects, or contraindications of metformin. There are other considerations for prescribing antidiabetic medications that are not included in this analysis.
