METFORMIN TO PREVENT HEART ATTACKS

Report #6772 3/31/96

An exciting new study in the Journal of Internal Medicine shows that metformin, the recently approved drug to treat diabetes, may also help to lower cholesterol and help people lose weight.

Men who did not have diabetes, but had either coronary artery bypass surgery or angioplasty because of severely blocked heart arteries were placed on a regimen of the anti-diabetic drug, metformin,/ the cholesterol-lowering drug, lovostatin,/ and a low-fat diet. This combination lowered cholesterol and body weight much more than for those who took only lovostatin and ate a low fat diet. This is of intense interest because the anti-diabetic drug, metformin prevents blood sugar levels from rising too high. As a result, it lowers blood insulin levels. Insulin makes you hungry and raises body fat and cholesterol. Other previous studies show that etidronate, the drug used to prevent osteoporosis, helps to open blocked arteries by dissolving plaques that are formed in them. Etidronate may remove calcium from plaques.

This is the first study to show the benefits of metformin on lowering cholesterol and preventing heart attacks. Now, people who have arteriosclerosis are treated with low fat, high-fiber diets and drugs to lower cholesterol. In the future, they may ALSO BE TREATED WITH the anti-diabetes drug, metformin, the anti-osteoporosis drugs, alindrinate or etidronate, the cholesterol lowering drug, lovostatin, and a low-fat diet.

By Gabe Mirkin, M.D., for CBS Radio News