Metformin could protect against age-related macular degeneration: study
The protective effect was not dose dependent, say researchers.
Taking metformin could protect older adults without diabetes from developing age-related macular degeneration, according to US doctors.
Their case-control study found that use of the diabetes drug was associated with a 17% lower risk of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) versus no exposure at all.
“Findings of this study suggest that metformin may be useful as a therapeutic tool for protection against AMD,” the authors wrote in JAMA Ophthalmology.
Sydney ophthalmologist Dr Angela Jennings, who was not involved in the study, told AusDoc that the findings could help doctors decide whether to prescribe metformin.
