Metformin: an inexpensive and effective treatment in people with diabetes and COVID-19?

Abstract

People with diabetes have been reported to have more severe outcomes, as compared with non-diabetic people, with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. Numerous reports have shown how the risk of intensive care unit admission, intubation for mechanical ventilation, and mortality have been greater among people with diabetes, as compared with people without diabetes.1 In people with diabetes, glycaemic control might contribute to reducing the risk of these outcomes because lower plasma glucose levels at the time of admission2 and during hospitalisation3 have been associated with improved prognosis.