Can people with type 2 diabetes live longer than those without? A comparison of mortality in people initiated with metformin or sulphonylurea monotherapy and matched, non-diabetic controls

Bannister CA, Holden SE, Jenkins-Jones S, Morgan CL, Halcox JP, Schernthaner G, Mukherjee J, Currie CJ · 2014 · Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism · Atlas ID BAN2014

What this study shows

Diabetic patients started on metformin had longer median survival than matched non-diabetic controls without the drug. Retrospective and observational: consistent with a survival benefit, but confounding by indication and healthy-adherer effects cannot be excluded.

Abstract

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Clinical and observational studies have shown an increased risk of cardiovascular events and death associated with sulphonylureas versus metformin. However, it has never been determined whether this was due to the beneficial effects of metformin or detrimental effects of sulphonylureas. The objective of this study was therefore to compare all-cause mortality in diabetic patients treated first-line with either sulphonylurea or metformin monotherapy with that in matched individuals without diabetes.

Read the full abstract on PubMed →

At a glance

Evidence type	H Human study Marked H because it is direct evidence from a human clinical trial or human cohort; the code names the kind of study, not its quality -- a small, well-run trial is still H.
Study type	3 - Human Observational
Model system	Humans, retrospective cohort (n=180,926)
Journal	Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism
Year	2014
Peer reviewed	Yes
Record last updated	2026-07-29
Source	DOI 10.1111/dom.12354 · PMID 25041462

Extracted findings

These fields were extracted from the paper with AI assistance and have not been checked against the source. Read them as a pointer into the paper, not as curated claims; where they disagree with the curated summary above, the curated summary stands.

Intervention	Metformin (vs sulphonylurea) monotherapy
Target	AMPK / mTOR (indirect)
Model	Human – retrospective cohort (n=180,926)
Effect	Metformin-treated diabetics had lower all-cause mortality than sulphonylurea users and even matched non-diabetic controls

In the Atlas

Open questions that cite this study

Cited as supporting evidence for the open question Rapamycin + AMPK-axis drugs (acarbose / metformin): a male-mouse survival signal from cross-cohort comparison, untested in humans.

Answers that reference this study

Discussed in the plain-language answer Rapamycin vs metformin – how do they compare for longevity?.

Cite this paper

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Bannister, C. A., Holden, S. E., Jenkins-Jones, S., Morgan, C. L., Halcox, J. P., Schernthaner, G., Mukherjee, J., & Currie, C. J. (2014). Can people with type 2 diabetes live longer than those without? A comparison of mortality in people initiated with metformin or sulphonylurea monotherapy and matched, non-diabetic controls. Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism. https://doi.org/10.1111/dom.12354

@article{BAN2014,
  author       = {Bannister, C. A. and Holden, S. E. and Jenkins-Jones, S. and Morgan, C. L. and Halcox, J. P. and Schernthaner, G. and Mukherjee, J. and Currie, C. J.},
  title        = {{Can people with type 2 diabetes live longer than those without? A comparison of mortality in people initiated with metformin or sulphonylurea monotherapy and matched, non-diabetic controls}},
  journal      = {Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism},
  year         = {2014},
  doi          = {10.1111/dom.12354},
  note         = {PMID: 25041462},
}

Cite this Atlas record

The record is the Atlas's own work — the evidence label, the extracted findings and the links. It is cited as part of the dataset, not as the paper.

Barton, O. (2026). Oliver's mTOR Atlas (record BAN2014) [Data set]. https://mtor-atlas.org/study/BAN2014/ · Dataset DOI 10.5281/zenodo.22059963

@misc{atlas_BAN2014,
  author       = {Barton, Oliver},
  title        = {{Oliver's mTOR Atlas}, record BAN2014},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  year         = {2026},
  url          = {https://mtor-atlas.org/study/BAN2014/},
  doi          = {10.5281/zenodo.22059963}
}

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