A recent study has indicated that taking metformin, a common drug used to treat type 2 diabetes, has been linked to increased risk of Alzheimer’s Disease and Parkinson’s Disease. Researchers from Taiwan conducted a cohort study that involved 9,300 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus in Taiwan. The researchers followed up on the patients for a period of 12 years.
Their findings indicate that the risk of developing Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s more than doubled for those who took metformin over a twelve-year period compared to those who did not. In addition, the risks increased progressively the higher the dosage of metformin taken and the longer the treatment. The research results was recently presented in the 13th International Conference on Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Diseases held in Vienna, Austria.
Despite the findings, there are still some question marks hanging in the air as previous research seems to say otherwise. There were some previous studies that indicate metformin providing protective properties against neurodegenerative diseases.
According to Yi-Chun Kuan, MD, Shuang Ho Hospital, Taipei Medical University, New Taipei City, Taiwan, “We’d heard about a possible protective effect from metformin. However, we found the reverse.”
But she also noted that it needs a larger scale and prospective study on a global scope in order to clarify the conflicting results.
Source: Medscape