Repurposed Medications: Old Drugs, New Tricks for Wellness

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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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Episode Transcript

Nicole (00:00):
All right.
Hello everyone, Thank you forjoining us.
Another episode of Tattoos andTelehealth.
My name is Nicole Baldwin, aboard-certified nurse
practitioner.
This is my good friend andcolleague, Kelli White, and
she's also a board-certifiednurse practitioner and she
specializes in functionalmedicine.
So today we wanted to talk toyou about repurposed medications
.
But before we get started, justbe mindful this.

(00:22):
This does not constitute apatient provider relationship
and this is not medical advice,just two girls just chatting
about medicine.
So, Kelli, if you want to startoff, tell us let's talk about
repurposed meds.
What does that even mean?

Kelli (00:40):
So repurposed medications just means that when we take a
look at a prescriptionmedication and we think about
what else it can be used for, solike, let's say, let's pick on
metformin, for instance.
Okay, everybody knows whatmetformin is.
It's a very common medicationtypically used to treat
diabetics.
Well, metformin also does a lotof other things on the cellular

(01:01):
level.
Well, metformin also does a lotof other things on the cellular
level.
And so whenever a companystarts 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 wewould 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.

(01:22):
And when it does that, thegreat thing about it is it also
lets us write all the otherlittle things that it does, and
when it does that, the greatthing about it is it also lets
us write down the other thingsthat it can do.
So maybe it doesn't just treatdiabetes, maybe it also blocks
cellular pathways for thisparticular disorder, or maybe it
disrupts these pathways forthis disorder, and so when we

(01:44):
find a drug that treats otherstuff, we allow it to be
repurposed and used to treatother disorders.
So it's like saying I'm going totake ibuprofen because I have a
headache.
Well, it helps with my headache, but it also decreases
inflammation in my joints and italso can thin my blood and it
also so it can do other things,and in doing so, we call it

(02:08):
repurposed.
And the great thing aboutfunctional medicine is I get to
share that knowledge with mypatients and let them explore
the world of repurposedmedications and learning that
they can take these medicationsin different doses at different
times to treat different things.
And it's fantastic becausewe've learned that in doing so,

(02:31):
we have a wealth of knowledge inthese medications by using them
in different ways.
We don't always have to use amedication for that particular
thing just because that's whatit says it was for.
We get to repurpose it and useit for other things.

Nicole (02:45):
So let's talk about really quick.
Let's talk about Viagra.

Kelli (02:49):
Ooh, yeah, that started out?

Nicole (02:50):
started out right as a cardiac med.
It vasodilates, right, itvasodilates, and so that's what
that started out.
As Now, through the clinicaltrials, obviously it came out
for ED and less, less of acardiac.
But some of these medications,like what we're talking about
today, is the medications thatthey come out for something and
they're for something for a verylong time, like the ibuprofen

(03:12):
or like for whatever, and thenwe find out years later, because
things are researchedconstantly hey, this is also
good for, like metformin, thisis also good for right.
And so some of these medicationsthey're out of patent, so they
are super, super cheap whenyou're comparing it to like

(03:36):
current treatments that are, youknow new drugs and new, you
know new types of medications totreat certain disorders and you
know just even, even, even likeWellbutrin, it treats anxiety,
it treats depression, and now weknow it treats mild ADHD as
well, Right?
But and it's not this expensiveADHD, which most, most ADHD

(03:58):
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 itfor other things, right?
And so this these repurposedmedications is definitely
getting some traction, I thinkespecially in in the functional
medicine world, as, as youspecifically were talking about.

Kelli (04:21):
I like like the old school parasitics.
Like remember going on missiontrips and you had to take
Mabindazole whenever you cameback to make sure you didn't
have worms whenever you got backhome?
Yeah, it's always an old, olddrug and the patent's been out
on that one for I don't knowever.
I think, yeah, and there is aton of research on Mabindazole

(04:41):
and all the things that it cando for your body.
It's a great drug, but in avery different dose.
It's used for a lot ofdifferent things and it's just
amazing.
You know, I think, especially infunctional medicine, gut health
you will you guys have heard mesay it if you've been listening
to our podcast, gut health, guthealth but the way that it
functions to to do other thingsand the tremendous impact that

(05:05):
it has on your immune system andyour gut health is just amazing
.
But there are just so manyother things that you can
repurpose a medication to use.
I think that it's important tobring that to light.
I think it's important for thepublic at large to understand
that you don't have to take thisparticular drug because it says
it treats XYZ and that's yourelement.
You know, do some homework,take a look around, find you a

(05:28):
good functional medicineprovider, nutritionist, somebody
in your area that specializesin repurposed medications, you
may find a much less expensivealternative to what you are
trying to treat.

Nicole (05:38):
Yeah, just like you were saying we used to have to take
after the mission trips we wouldtake Mabendazole.
Now we prescribe doxycycline totake while you're gone to
prevent certain things, orivermectin while you're gone to
prevent certain things, like youknow the different parasites
and things like that.
But you know it's it's.
There's definitely some areasout there where it's it's

(06:00):
definitely gaining some traction.
So awesome news, awesome news,all right guys.

Kelli (06:05):
check out repurposed medications, Take a quick listen
to our podcast and then go doyour homework, guys, and bring
us the questions you have.

Nicole (06:12):
All right, have a good day.
See you next week you.