Repurposed diabetes drug can reduce pain for those with knee arthritis and overweight or obesity, clinical trial shows

A common diabetes drug can reduce the pain of people with knee osteoarthritis and overweight or obesity, possibly delaying the need for knee replacements, research has found. Metformin, which is commonly prescribed to treat type 2 diabetes, reduced knee arthritis pain over six months in a clinical trial. The research was performed as a community-based study using telehealth. Some of the 107 participants with pain from knee osteoarthritis, who had a mean age of 60, took up to 2,000 mg of metformin daily for six months. Others took the placebo. None had diabetes. Knee pain was measured on a 0–100...