Metformin to Treat Aging: Potential and Concerns
Metformin, originally a diabetes drug, has quickly become a popular anti-aging medication. But what do we really know?
Elixir of life
Imagine going to sleep and waking up in a body much older than the one you dozed off in.
Saggy skin, different body shape, loss of muscle tone. On the inside, a decrease in immune function, a greater risk for cancer, joints that creak, holes in your memory, and even a microbiome that gives your trouble.
Doesn’t sound like fun. Yet we will all be confronted with old age one day.
No wonder we are looking for ways to prevent that scenario.
More specifically, we would like to extend both health- and lifespan. Thus far, we don’t really have a lot of options. Our current best bet is to emulate the lifestyle of people who age healthily (see the Blue Zones, for example): Move throughout the day, eat (mostly) plants, avoid stress, have a purpose, and cultivate a strong social network.
Those lifestyle factors, though, are no guarantee. There is a lot of individual variability — and even with the best genetics and healthiest lifestyle, human bodies fail eventually.
