A widely used diabetes drug, Metformin, has been found to be a brain booster. A new study has revealed that that Metformin encourages the growth of new neurons in the brain.
According to the study published in the journal Cell Stem Cell it has been revealed that metformin helped mice become smarter. “Metformin, promotes neurogenesis and enhances spatial memory formation. Specifically, we show that an atypical PKC-CBP pathway is essential for the normal genesis of neurons from neural precursors and that metformin activates this pathway to promote rodent and human neurogenesis in culture,” said the study.
Experts in India say that the finding is interesting as the drug is given to almost 90 per cent of the diabetic people.
The drug has been seen to having some other “good affects too.” “It is a new aspirin, a widely prescribed drug for diabetes. The drug is not prescribed only in cases having kidney problems. It is a number one drug for treatment of diabetes, not only it helps in controlling blood sugar levels, it treats liver, good for fertility and an anti cancer drug. The new discovery is therefore interesting,” said Dr Anoop Misra, Chairman, Fortis-C-DOC Centre of Excellence for Diabetes, Metabolic Diseases and Endocrino-logy.