Researchers reveal that a cheap drug used for decades to treat diabetes may be a promising way to reduce the risk of developing one of the most common joint diseases.
A recent study suggests that metformin may reduce the likelihood of developing osteoarthritis in the knee and hip by up to 24%.
Osteoarthritis is a widespread health problem around the world, as the erosion of cartilage inside the joints leads to pain and difficulty in movement, and may push some patients to undergo joint replacement surgeries or rely on painkillers and steroid injections to relieve symptoms.
The study, which included around 350,000 people in the United Kingdom, showed that people who were taking metformin to treat diabetes were less likely to develop osteoarthritis in their knee and hip joints compared to others.
Researchers from Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, China, tracked the health records of participants in the UK Biobank database for more than 10 years. The database contains anonymized medical information for large numbers of people.
The researchers noted that metformin, which has been used since the 1950s to treat diabetes, may have protective effects even in people who do not have diabetes, but this needs further studies to confirm.
The team believes the drug may help protect joints by reducing inflammation and stimulating the production of enzymes that contribute to maintaining cartilage, the tissue that acts as a shock-absorbing cushion between bones.
Professor Lucy Donaldson of Arthritis UK welcomed the results, describing them as "encouraging," but stressed the need for large, high-quality clinical trials to determine whether metformin can actually be adopted as a means of preventing the disease.
