Diabetes drug linked to reduced depression

A large data-base study finds metformin is the only anti-diabetic significantly associated with reduced risk of developing depressive symptoms

Metformin might reduce the risk of depression in patients with type 2 diabetes, a large-scale study suggests.

Researchers have drawn on population data for more than five million people living in Denmark in 2005 to look for associations between 20 of the most commonly used anti-diabetes drugs and depression.

The participants were followed for a decade, with those having prior diagnosis of depression or receipt of antidepressants before the start of the study being excluded.

Some 360,000 people were administered at least one of the antidiabetes drugs and another 65,000 people used insulin at some point during the study period, said the researchers, from Australia and Denmark.