It is time for us to think about taking Metformin for anti aging, health and disease prevention. I remember being at a health seminar in New York where all the top doctors were talking about healthy foods, and supplements, and they literally mentioned Metformin for Anti Aging more than 10 years ago.

Today type two diabetics who are taking Metformin are having better health outcomes than normal people. Think about it. Type two diabetics, who are normally getting their arms and legs chopped off and having all kinds of horrific issues with their pancreas, liver, and brain who are taking Metformin are healthier than “healthy non diabetics” That’s crazy.

It’s time to take a deep dive and look into this seriously. I have a friend who’s in his 30s who’s been taking it for a number of years. I’m looking for side effects and I am not finding any. Of course ask your doctor.

Lets start here at PubMed. The National Institute of Health where we find all the medical school research. For those of you that are lazy I am going to take a few lines out of context to make it easy for you.

..”metformin is widely used for treating people with type 2 diabetes and appears to show protection against cancer, inflammation, and age-related pathologies.” … Read it yourself. The link is above. If you read just the first paragraph it addresses the concern for lactic acidosis which is .03 per 1000 patient years. So that is virtually zero. And maybe a slight tummy ache.

Here is a 2022 study in PubMed You get to place your bets on your life and measure the risk reward ratio for you “The most involved mechanism of metformin’s action is AMPK activation. Emerging evidence has indicated that AMPK is not only a key effector of glucose and lipid metabolism, ……… improving insulin resistance; ………driving the cardiovascular protection and neuroprotection; ……… mediating anti-inflammation; ……executing anticancer; …… improving reproductive system; …… probably protecting against COVID-19. ……..inhibiting HGP and cancers, anti-obesity, improving complications of COVID-19 and Down syndrome, cardioprotection and neuroprotection.”

I took out a lot of acronyms and even things I assumed you didnt know like autophagy. Autophagy is the body’s way of cleaning out damaged cells, in order to regenerate newer, healthier cells.

Here are 18,000 more studies you can read. There are so many studies they needed a study to summarize the studies. Here is the study to summarize the studies.

“The numerous beneficial health outcomes associated with the use of metformin to treat patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM), together with data from pre-clinical studies in animals including the nematode, C. elegans, and mice have prompted investigations into whether metformin has therapeutic utility as an anti-aging drug that may also extend lifespan. Indeed, clinical trials, including the MILES (Metformin In Longevity Study) and TAME (Targeting Aging with Metformin), have been designed to assess the potential benefits of metformin as an anti-aging drug.”

They even have an acronym TAME targeted anti aging with Metormin. Starting to get the idea this might be helpful? And you might not want to wait 50 years? How about this one liner from this study? “Based on a systematic review of 53 studies, Campbell et al. concluded that independent of its therapeutic efficacy as an anti-diabetic drug, the use of metformin results in a reduction of all-cause mortality associated with diseases that accelerate aging, including cancer and cardiovascular disease (37).” Thats a small mouthful that says a lot and all you need to know.

For me its time to start. “Diabetes-associated hyperglycemia, hyperinsulinemia, elevated oxidative stress, vascular disease, and inflammation are all linked to cognitive decline and, as reflected by a meta-analysis, it was concluded that metformin reduces cognitive decline and dementia in T2DM subjects (255).” My risk benefit ratio at my age seems like a no brainer. But you get to place your bets for your life. So far I cant find a downside. And this drug was approved as a treatment for diabetes in Europe in the 1950s and in 1995 by the FDA in the US. So I think if there were some serious or even not so serious side effects they would have shown up in the past 78 years.

Here is more from Life Extension Magazine August 2023. The title of the article “Will Metformin become the first Anti-Aging Drug?” “New studies appear almost daily revealing how metformin inhibits aging by boosting AMPK activity. Data on cancer risk reductions provide an even greater urgency for maturing individuals to reactivate their cellular AMPK.”.

..”also has been shown to protect against cancer and cardiovascular disease. It also offers neuroprotection, and promotes weight loss”

Apparently “FDA has allowed metformin to be studied in humans as the first anti-aging drug.¹

Just go read the whole article. Its beyond proven in my eyes and the real proof may never come.

“The FDA has approved a study that will determine if metformin can do more than lower blood sugar—it will evaluate metformin’s ability to slow aging. This is the first ever anti-aging study approved by the FDA.”

“Targeting Aging with Metformin (TAME), will evaluate 3,000 people over a course of six years. Half of the participants will receive metformin, and the other half will receive a placebo. Since aging is largely characterized by the development of disease, the success of the study will be determined by whether or not the drug delays the onset of typical age-related diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, and cognitive decline.

This groundbreaking study has the potential to change the future of how we treat disease. Developing a single drug designed to treat multiple conditions would dramatically reduce the number of drugs a typical person would need, which would reduce overall drug side effects, eliminate contraindications, and of course, save money.

None of this is good for Big Pharma’s bottom line—which is likely why no company has agreed to fund the study. Until that happens, this important study is on hold.”

To my friend who says never trust big pharma, I agree apparently one drug that would prevent multiple diseases that is many years off patent and around 5 cents a pill is so potentially efficient no one wants to fund this study.

Anyone still reading? Here is David Sinclair’s regimen He is a professor at Harvard who has been studying anti aging for most of his career.

We can keep going into the weeds deeper and deeper. Suffice it to say that you should increase your intake of B12 and other B vitamins and maybe not take it on days that you exercise. Sinclair says you are stressing already stressed mitochondria. But seriously this is getting into the weeds now. That would be like me warning you about hyponatremia and tell you not to drink water because of possible Hyponatremia (the sodium level in the blood is below normal.can cause seizures, coma and even death. Hyponatremia is more common in older adults because they’re more likely to take medicines or have medical problems that put them at risk of the disorder.)

It really happens with people have some serious imbalances and usually in a hospital. Not to say that I didnt read one marathoner somewhere managed to drink enough water without adding any salts or sugars and managed to induce it.

If you are planning on running a marathon in 90 degree heat and you are slow and will be at it from more than 5 hours maybe a little gatorade plus water. But I was really making fun of the idea that we are “sweating the small stuff” vs taking advantage of the big stuff.

You can never say too much if you are advising people to take drugs. Here is another great article.

Here is the link followed by my excerpts. Of course if you read the actual article my excerpts are redundant.

Article is it safe to take Metformin for anti aging

65 Yrs in the marketplace, 6th most common prescribed drug. Embraced by silicon valley, anti aging doctors and celebrities. The feared side effect of lactic acidosis occurs in less than 10 cases per 100,000 patient years. Experts who are taking it;

• David Sinclair, Ph.D. – 1000mg per day
• Nir Barzilai, M.D. – 1500mg per day
• Ray Kurzweil – 500-850mg per day
• Jay Campbell – 1000-2000mg per day

For more details refer to the article. Suffice it to say to make sure you are taking your B vitamins and B12.