Does metformin have benefits beyond managing the blood sugar levels in patients with type 2 diabetes? The answer is affirmative. Metformin, a commonly prescribed first-line treatment for Type 2 diabetes, may lower the risk of dementia and death in obese individuals, according to new research that analyzed the data from the TriNetX network. The findings were published in Diabetes, Obesity, and Metabolism.

Researchers examined electronic health records to evaluate if metformin use has any effect on the long-term dementia incidence and all-cause mortality in patients in four body mass index (BMI) categories, i.e., overweight (25-29.9), class I (30-34.9), class II (35-39.9) and class III (over 40). The analysis included over 132,000 patients in the overweight category, 142,000 in obesity class I, 94,000 in class II, and 82,000 in class III.

After 10 years, the hazard ratio (HR) for dementia was 0.875 in the overweight group and 0.917, 0.878, and 0.891 in classes I, II, and III obesity, respectively. Mortality risk was also lower, with HRs 0.719, 0.727, 0.717, and 0.743, respectively, across the BMI categories.