Diagnosed with Cancer? Your two greatest challenges are understanding cancer and understanding possible side effects from chemo and radiation. Knowledge is Power!
Learn about conventional, complementary, and integrative therapies.
Dealing with treatment side effects? Learn about evidence-based therapies to alleviate your symptoms.
Click the orange button to the right to learn more.
- You are here:
- Home »
- Blog »
- side effects ID and prevention »
- Metformin Prevents Doxorubicin-induced Cardiotoxicity
Metformin Prevents Doxorubicin-induced Cardiotoxicity
Metformin prevents doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity. As a long-term cancer survivor who developed chemotherapy-induced cardiomyopathy as a result of cardiotoxic chemo regimens, I am scouring the internet for evidence-based therapies shown to prevent this nasty side effect of chemo.
What are the health benefits of metformin?
- Blood Sugar Control: Metformin helps lower blood sugar levels by decreasing the amount of glucose produced by the liver and improving insulin sensitivity, which helps the body use glucose more effectively.
- Weight Management: Many patients with type 2 diabetes who take metformin experience modest weight loss or weight stabilization. Unlike some other diabetes medications, metformin is not associated with weight gain.
- Cardiovascular Health: Metformin may reduce the risk of cardiovascular events in people with diabetes. Studies have shown that metformin can lower the risk of heart attack and stroke.
- Reduction of Cancer Risk: Some research suggests that metformin may lower the risk of certain cancers, including breast, prostate, and colorectal cancers, possibly due to its effects on insulin and glucose metabolism.
- Improved Lipid Profiles: Metformin can help improve cholesterol levels by reducing low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and triglycerides while increasing high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol.
- Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) Management: Metformin is often used to treat PCOS as it can improve insulin resistance, which is a common issue in PCOS patients. It may also help regulate menstrual cycles and promote ovulation.
- Neuroprotective Effects: Emerging research indicates that metformin may have neuroprotective effects, potentially reducing the risk of neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s disease.
- Longevity: Some animal studies suggest that metformin may extend lifespan and improve health span, although more research is needed to confirm these effects in humans.
Unfortunately, cancer patients usually are not educated about the possibility of their therapy causing heart damage until it’s too late. Most cancer patients are like me- ignorance is bliss until you experience heart problems.
The good news about this is that all of my heart metrics as measured by an annual echocardiogram- BP, EF, etc.- all have either stabilized or improved with the supplementation of heart healthy nutrition and supplementation.
I tried metoprolol years ago and had difficulty within hours of my first tablet. No more toxicity for me!
If you are a cancer patient about to undergo cardiotoxic chemo or are a cancer-survivor who has already undergone cardiotoxic chemo and wants to learn more about heart healthy therapies, email me at David.PeopleBeatingCancer@gmail.com
Thank you,
David Emerson
- Cancer Survivor
- Cancer Coach
- Director PeopleBeatingCancer
Reliability of Metformin’s Protective Effects against Doxorubicin-induced Cardiotoxicity: A meta-analysis of Animal Studies
“Background: The protective effects of metformin (Met) against doxorubicin (Dox)induced cardiotoxicity via potential hypotheses of mechanisms of action with unknown reliability and credibility.
Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the protective effects of Met against Dox-induced cardiotoxicity and the underlying mechanisms of action, as well as examine their reliability and credibility.
Methods: A comprehensive search was conducted within the PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Science Direct, Scopus, and CNKI databases from inception to December 31, 2023. Animal experiments evaluating the efficacy of Met against Dox-induced cardiotoxicity were included in this study.
The primary efficacy outcomes were markers of myocardial injury. Effect size was measured using the standardized mean difference for continuous variables. Data were pooled using a random-effects model in the Stata 18 statistical software package.
Results: Twenty-one studies involving 203-208 animals treated with Dox and 271-276 animals treated with Dox and Met were included in this analysis.
Quality assessment revealed high-quality scores. Pooled results favored Met treatment based on the serum lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), creatine kinase-myocardial band (CK-MB), cardiac troponin I (cTnI), and aspartate aminotransferase levels.
Sensitivity analysis using the leave-one-out method demonstrated stable results. Funnel plots, Egger’s test, and Begg’s test confirmed potential publication bias. The oxidative stress hypothesis has been investigated extensively based on abundant evidence.
Conclusions: Met is effective and safe for protecting against Dox-induced cardiotoxicity, thus making it an appropriate drug for clinical investigation. The oxidative stress hypothesis of mechanism of action is well established with highest reliability and credibility.”