Metformin And Cardiovascular Disease

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) kills a quarter of the United Kingdom population every year. This is due to common driving factors such as smoking, aging, high cholesterol and blood pressure. Heart attacks, strokes and constricted blood flow to the heart and important organs, are all a result of these driving factors. Important chemicals in the blood that prevent cells from dying are reduced by the driving factors which leads to more molecules that negatively impact your health circulating in the blood. Currently, statins are the only drugs that help prevent and reduce risk factors that promote CVD. Metformin, a diabetes drug, has been found to influence a relaxation pathway in our cells in both cell and mice studies. Although it has been found to significantly reduce heart attack and stroke cases in one human study, there is still not enough evidence of its worth to allow its use to prevent CVD. This study’s main objective is to analyse the current, available writing associated with the use of metformin, to determine whether it is applicable as a primary preventative drug for CVD. This study concluded; although many of the classical markers of CVD are reversed after metformin’s use in both cell and mice studies, more research is needed to fully understand how it affects the cardiovascular system and its usefulness in human studies before it is suitable for primary prevention. Until then, metformin does not have the possibility to be used as a primary preventative drug for CVD.