Common diabetes drug could treat gum disease and help you age healthier

Periodontal (gum) diseases are strikingly common across the globe and are strongly associated with systemic conditions such as diabetes and obesity. Lifestyle choices such as increased sugar intake are a common cause of gum disease, as well as diabetes and obesity. And what links diabetes, obesity, and gum disease is that they develop over our lifetime, but gum disease has the potential to be picked up first as it can start as early as 30 years old. Metformin could be used to reduce obesity and diabetes before they develop while used as a treatment to stop gum disease.

The only treatment strategy currently available to tackle gum disease is to clean the teeth deep to rid the mouth of bacteria, as well as prescribing antibiotics. However, this treatment does not protect against the continuation and development of systemic associated diseases, such as diabetes and obesity.