Metformin is not recommended for anti-aging

Metformin is a “drug used to control type 2 diabetes” that “stimulates the entry of glucose into cells,” as defined by the University of Navarra Clinic. “In patients with this type of diabetes, metformin helps muscle and fat cells metabolize glucose,” explains Newtral.es Guillermo Lopez, professor of cell biology at the Universidad Pablo de Olavide in Seville. “Therefore, the aging caused by this disease is slowed down.”

The World Health Organization (WHO) included metformin on a list of 591 medicines and 103 equivalent treatments that are “essential” to meet “priority health needs.”

Does metformin slow the aging of the general population?

Despite its anti-aging effects in patients with type 2 diabetes, “there is no scientific evidence that a healthy person taking metformin regularly throughout their life will age more slowly,” the cell biologist emphasizes.

There are various studies that have examined the anti-aging effects of metformin in healthy people. However, the Spanish Agency for Medicines and Health Products (AEMPS) assures Newtral.es that no one has proven that metformin slows down aging in healthy people.

• Lopez therefore asks for “caution” due to its “possible negative effects” in healthy people. “It inhibits the release of glucose. This can lead to changes in liver cell metabolism. “If you’re healthy, you don’t need to take metformin because you don’t have an imbalance.”

Metformin promotes healthy aging in patients with diabetes

A study from the Hong Kong Medical University published in 2023 in The Lancet., concluded that metformin has a positive effect on healthy aging in patients with diabetes. The researchers compared biological markers of aging in patients taking metformin and diabetics taking other drugs.

• In February, the University of Navarra Clinic began a study on the possible use of metformin to treat aging in patients suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). “COPD inflames the lungs and this causes accelerated aging of the lungs. In Navarre they are looking to see if metformin can help slow this decline,” Lopez explains.

A 2014 study by Cardiff University researchers compared cardiovascular risk and mortality between patients taking metformin, diabetics taking other medications and people without diabetes. A study published in the US National Library of Medicine concluded that patients taking metformin as monotherapy had a life expectancy 38% longer than diabetics taking other medications and 15% longer than people without diabetes. .

Scientific evidence of the anti-aging effects of metformin in the general population requires further research.

To prove that metformin slows the aging of the general population, “we would have to take a population of about 50 years of age, divide them into a group that takes metformin and another that does not, and study them until they all die,” emphasizes biologist. cellular telephone.

And then “examine whether metformin actually had a beneficial effect in the treatment group because they lived longer or were healthier.” The investigation will take about 40 years,” explains Lopez.