Older drugs that still benefit from it (Part VI)

First synthesized in the 1920s. In the 20th century, metformin was forgotten over the next two decades, as researchers' attention focused on insulin and other anti-diabetic drugs. In the 1940s there was a renewed interest in the ability of metformin to lower blood sugar, and in 1957 it was first tested for the treatment of diabetes. In the United States, however, it was not introduced into clinical practice until 1995.

Metformin is the only drug that has convincingly proven its ability to prevent the development of cardiovascular complications from diabetes; There are also a number of reports showing that it can reduce the risk of cancer. Currently (in the absence of contraindications), this medication is recommended by the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE), the American College of Endocrinology (ACE), the American Dietetic Association (ADA), European European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) and the American College of Physicians (ACP) as the first line of oral therapy for type 2 diabetes. There are dosage forms containing in a tablet a combination of metformin with other anti-diabetic medicines such as glipizide and sitagliptin.

Since 2010, metformin and glibenclamide have been the only two oral anti-diabetic drugs on the WHO model list of essential medicines. Metformin is also an important drug for the treatment of polycystic ovary syndrome and its complications.

Tetracyclines were discovered as natural substances in 1945 and were first used in 1948. Chlortetracycline (Aureomycin Benz / Aureomycin Benz), the first of these drugs, was obtained from Streptomyces aureofaciens, the golden mushroom-like bacteria found in the soil. In the 1950s. Of the last century, the research team determined the chemical composition and the fermentation process of tetracycline, which was then patented in 1955. For 3 years, this drug was the broad-spectrum antibiotic most commonly prescribed in the United States.

Tetracyclines are used to treat urinary tract infections, chlamydia, spirochetal infections, anthrax, plague, tularemia, and legionnaire's disease. Minocycline is also used to treat acne. Recent studies have focused on studying their anti-inflammatory properties, particularly the neuroprotective effects of Alzheimer's disease, stroke, Parkinson's disease and AIDS-related dementia.