# Widely used diabetes drug may offer unexpected health benefit

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/widely-used-diabetes-drug-may-offer-unexpected-health-benefit/
- Published: 2026-11-13T19:19:36+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-13T20:36:44+00:00
- Original publisher: Fox News (publisher lean: Right)
- Original article: https://www.foxnews.com/health/widely-used-diabetes-drug-may-offer-unexpected-health-benefit
- Topics: Health, Medicine, Research, Science, World

## Key points

- Metformin users had a 39% lower one-year risk of death after COVID-19.
- The records study cannot prove metformin caused the difference.
- Researchers say the evidence is not enough to change treatment.

## Summary

A Stanford study found that adults with type 2 diabetes who were taking metformin before contracting COVID-19 had a 39% lower risk of dying in the following year than those taking a different diabetes drug. The result suggests metformin may have benefits beyond blood sugar control, but it does not show that the drug caused the difference or that treatment should change.

The researchers examined US medical records for 53,332 people aged 30 to 85 who tested positive between October 2021 and November 2023: 50,965 were taking metformin and 2,367 a DPP-4 inhibitor. Metformin users were younger on average, and those taking the alternative drug tended to have more health conditions, which may help explain the different outcomes. The analysis also found no statistically significant link with long COVID symptoms, and vaccination records were incomplete.

---
Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.