Common diabetes drug tested to shield arthritis patients from heart disease

This small, one-year pilot study tested if adding the diabetes medication metformin to standard arthritis treatment could better protect the heart and blood vessels in people with psoriatic arthritis who do not have diabetes. Researchers compared two groups of 24 patients: one received metformin plus standard care, and the other received standard care alone. The main goal was to see if metformin could slow the progression of plaque buildup in the neck arteries, a sign of increased heart disease risk.