[itissteve]

A Chinese study found that among 40,000 patients studied, daily metformin was associated with a 30% lower risk for total knee and hip replacement compared with no metformin.

Metformin use and associated risk of total joint replacement in patients with type 2 diabetes: a population-based matched cohort study

The subjects seem to be well-chosen though in my opinion skewing to a median age of 63 both makes sense from a joint-replacement-timeline point of view and may not fully account for longer-term vs. shorter-term metformin use. The study leaders also suggest that more studies could better account for the presence of osteoarthritis in the study population/control against a population that had osteoarthritis and then started taking metformin.

Interesting study. I know we have a few members of our community who take metformin for its beneficial side effects as much as for its glucose management effects. This could be one more point in its favor.

 

[mbuster]

Metformin also has a preventative effect for certain cancer types.

I found it interesting that risk reduction was inconsistent based on metformin dosages above vs below 1000 mg., if I read that right. I don't remember seeing any referrals to the term regular or extended release metformin, so there may have be no differences between their contribution to risk reduction.

 

[itissteve]

Correct, no mention at all of regular vs extended-release Met. I found the three classes of dosage an unnecessary distinction, too, though maybe they thought dosage would be more strongly correlated with effect and it turns out it was not (or at least not a consistent one).