Repurposed Medications: Old Drugs, New Tricks for Wellness

We dive into the fascinating world of repurposed medications, exploring how drugs designed for one condition can effectively treat others, often at a fraction of the cost. Board-certified nurse practitioners Nicole Baldwin and Kelli White share insights on how traditional pharmaceuticals can be used in innovative ways beyond their original purpose.

• Definition of repurposed medications: using established drugs for conditions beyond their original FDA approval
• Metformin example: primarily for diabetes but affects multiple cellular pathways making it useful for other conditions
• Viagra's origin story as a cardiac medication that was repurposed for erectile dysfunction 
• Cost benefits of using off-patent medications versus newer, more expensive alternatives
• Wellbutrin as an affordable alternative for treating mild ADHD symptoms
• Anti-parasitic medications like mebendazole and their impact on gut health and immune function
• Importance of working with healthcare providers who understand medication repurposing

Check out repurposed medications, listen to our podcast, and bring us your questions after doing your research!

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Chapters

• 0:00 Episode Introduction
• 0:30 Defining Repurposed Medications
• 1:45 Metformin Beyond Diabetes
• 2:45 Viagra's Origin Story
• 4:20 Affordable Alternatives Through Repurposing
• 5:40 Closing Thoughts and Recommendations

Transcript

Nicole: 0:00

All right. Hello everyone, Thank you for joining us. Another episode of Tattoos and Telehealth. My name is Nicole Baldwin, a board-certified nurse practitioner. This is my good friend and colleague, Kelli White, and she's also a board-certified nurse practitioner and she specializes in functional medicine. So today we wanted to talk to you about repurposed medications. But before we get started, just be mindful this. This does not constitute a patient provider relationship and this is not medical advice, just two girls just chatting about medicine. So, Kelli, if you want to start off, tell us let's talk about repurposed meds. What does that even mean?

Kelli: 0:40

So repurposed medications just means that when we take a look at a prescription medication and we think about what else it can be used for, so like, let's say, let's pick on metformin, for instance. Okay, everybody knows what metformin is. It's a very common medication typically used to treat diabetics. Well, metformin also does a lot of other things on the cellular level. Well, metformin also does a lot of other things on the cellular level. And so whenever a company starts to test their medication to get it ready for public use, to get it ready to present to the FDA to say this is what we would like to use it for, it goes through trials. And when it goes through trials, it has to figure out all the other little things that it does. And when it does that, the great thing about it is it also lets us write all the other little things that it does, and when it does that, the great thing about it is it also lets us write down the other things that it can do.

Kelli: 1:30

So maybe it doesn't just treat diabetes, maybe it also blocks cellular pathways for this particular disorder, or maybe it disrupts these pathways for this disorder, and so when we find a drug that treats other stuff, we allow it to be repurposed and used to treat other disorders.

Kelli: 1:52

So it's like saying I'm going to take ibuprofen because I have a headache. Well, it helps with my headache, but it also decreases inflammation in my joints and it also can thin my blood and it also so it can do other things, and in doing so, we call it repurposed. And the great thing about functional medicine is I get to share that knowledge with my patients and let them explore the world of repurposed medications and learning that they can take these medications in different doses at different times to treat different things. And it's fantastic because we've learned that in doing so, we have a wealth of knowledge in these medications by using them in different ways. We don't always have to use a medication for that particular thing just because that's what it says it was for. We get to repurpose it and use it for other things.

Nicole: 2:45

So let's talk about really quick. Let's talk about Viagra.

Kelli: 2:49

Ooh, yeah, that started out?

Nicole: 2:50

started out right as a cardiac med. It vasodilates, right, it vasodilates, and so that's what that started out. As Now, through the clinical trials, obviously it came out for ED and less, less of a cardiac. But some of these medications, like what we're talking about today, is the medications that they come out for something and they're for something for a very long time, like the ibuprofen or like for whatever, and then we find out years later, because things are researched constantly hey, this is also good for, like metformin, this is also good for right.

Nicole: 3:25

And so some of these medications they're out of patent, so they are super, super cheap when you're comparing it to like current treatments that are, you know new drugs and new, you know new types of medications to treat certain disorders and you know just even, even, even like Wellbutrin, it treats anxiety, it treats depression, and now we know it treats mild ADHD as well, Right? But and it's not this expensive ADHD, which most, most ADHD medications are pretty expensive, it's very cheap, and it's that we've the patent has run out, it's been out for 100 years or whatever, and now we can use it for other things, right? And so this these repurposed medications is definitely getting some traction, I think especially in in the functional medicine world, as, as you specifically were talking about.

Kelli: 4:21

I like like the old school parasitics. Like remember going on mission trips and you had to take Mabindazole whenever you came back to make sure you didn't have worms whenever you got back home? Yeah, it's always an old, old drug and the patent's been out on that one for I don't know ever. I think, yeah, and there is a ton of research on Mabindazole and all the things that it can do for your body. It's a great drug, but in a very different dose. It's used for a lot of different things and it's just amazing.

Kelli: 4:50

You know, I think, especially in functional medicine, gut health you will you guys have heard me say it if you've been listening to our podcast, gut health, gut health but the way that it functions to to do other things and the tremendous impact that it has on your immune system and your gut health is just amazing. But there are just so many other things that you can repurpose a medication to use. I think that it's important to bring that to light. I think it's important for the public at large to understand that you don't have to take this particular drug because it says it treats XYZ and that's your element. You know, do some homework, take a look around, find you a good functional medicine provider, nutritionist, somebody in your area that specializes in repurposed medications, you may find a much less expensive alternative to what you are trying to treat.

Nicole: 5:38

Yeah, just like you were saying we used to have to take after the mission trips we would take Mabendazole. Now we prescribe doxycycline to take while you're gone to prevent certain things, or ivermectin while you're gone to prevent certain things, like you know the different parasites and things like that. But you know it's it's. There's definitely some areas out there where it's it's definitely gaining some traction. So awesome news, awesome news, all right guys.

Kelli: 6:05

check out repurposed medications, Take a quick listen to our podcast and then go do your homework, guys, and bring us the questions you have.

Nicole: 6:12

All right, have a good day. See you next week you.