Research

Hormonal

In older men with diabetes, treatment with insulin sensitizers (metformin and/or thiazolidinediones) significantly attenuates the accelerated loss of total and appendicular lean mass compared to untreated diabetes or diabetes treated without insulin sensitizers.

If you are an older man with diabetes, ask your doctor if your current medication is an 'insulin sensitizer' like metformin or a thiazolidinedione. This study suggests these drugs may help protect your muscle mass from the accelerated loss often seen in diabetes. If you are not on one, or are on other diabetes meds, discuss whether switching to or adding an insulin sensitizer might help preserve your strength and mobility.

ModerateSupportsMEDIUM confidence
Skeletal muscle loss was accelerated in men with IFG and diabetes, except when the latter was treated with insulin sensitizers. These findings suggest that insulin sensitizers may attenuate muscle loss.
Christine G. Lee et al. · Diabetes Care · 2011

Why this rating

Observational cohort study with large sample size but potential for residual confounding by indication.

Source

Insulin Sensitizers May Attenuate Lean Mass Loss in Older Men With Diabetes

Christine G. Lee et al. · Diabetes Care · 2011

DOI 10.2337/dc11-1032

cohort · n=3752Cited 169×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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