For potentially millions of people who survive a bout of COVID-19, there are punishing months of chronic symptoms to bear afterward — a syndrome known as long COVID. Now, a study shows that taking the relatively inexpensive drug metformin during a COVID-19 infection can decrease risks of developing long COVID by more than 40%, on average.
The drug may be most effective in the early days of illness. Participants who took metformin within four days of their COVID-19 symptoms starting had a 60% lower chance of long COVID, while those who took the drug after four days saw slightly less benefit. However, this finding should be interpreted with caution, the researchers noted.
