{"id":26933,"date":"2025-05-01T09:00:19","date_gmt":"2025-05-01T09:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/?p=26933"},"modified":"2025-05-01T09:24:38","modified_gmt":"2025-05-01T09:24:38","slug":"metformin-and-anti-aging-what-to-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/?p=26933","title":{"rendered":"Metformin and Anti-Aging: What to Know"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The research on metformin and human longevity is scant, but that hasn\u2019t stopped some people from experimenting with it.<\/p>\n

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A few years ago, Marc Provissiero, a movie producer approaching his mid-50s, started contemplating the next decades of his life. He joined a high-end longevity clinic for a few hundred dollars a month and began monitoring his blood panels, eating better and improving his sleep. He wanted to stay active as he aged \u2014 playing tennis, surfing, hiking and spending time with his young daughter.<\/p>\n

But during Mr. Provissiero\u2019s annual physical at the longevity clinic, his physician, Dr. Darshan Shah, gave him a sobering warning. Despite his healthy habits, Mr. Provissiero\u2019s blood sugar was nearing prediabetic levels<\/a>. A family history heightened his risk of developing diabetes, which can shave years off a person\u2019s life expectancy. When a stricter diet and exercise regimen didn\u2019t move the needle, Dr. Shah prescribed metformin.<\/p>\n

Scientists have known for decades that metformin lowers blood sugar. It\u2019s approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat Type 2 diabetes and is also commonly prescribed for weight loss and polycystic ovary syndrome. But some doctors, including Mr. Provissiero\u2019s, are betting this same drug can head off a number of chronic diseases before they even develop, to help otherwise healthy people live longer and better.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe hope is that this is going to lead to a greater number of healthy years,\u201d said Mr. Provissiero, who lives in Malibu, Calif. After one year on metformin, he said he feels less bloated, more energetic and more in control of his weight and blood sugar.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Research on metformin\u2019s impact on the human life span is scant. The existing research, much of which has been done on mice, is \u201call over the place,\u201d showing varying effects based on the animals\u2019 sex and species, said Rafael de Cabo, a senior investigator at the National Institute on Aging who has studied metformin in mice for over two decades. Human studies, which have largely focused on diabetes patients, turn up conflicting findings on metformin\u2019s benefits for healthy people, he said.<\/p>\n

Still, interest in metformin\u2019s anti-aging potential has remained high as scientists find early but promising evidence that it could also manage or delay other conditions like cardiovascular disease<\/a>, cancer<\/a> and dementia<\/a>. \u201cMetformin may be targeting the root cause\u201d of several other diseases whose risks increase with age, potentially because it regulates hormones, repairs tissues and eases immune system inflammation, Dr. de Cabo said.<\/p>\n

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The research on metformin and human longevity is scant, but that hasn\u2019t stopped some people from experimenting with it.A few years ago, Marc Provissiero, a movie producer approaching his mid-50s, started contemplating the next decades of his life. He joined a high-end longevity clinic for a few hundred dollars a month and began monitoring his blood panels, eating better and improving his sleep. He wanted to stay active as he aged \u2014 playing tennis, surfing, hiking and spending time with his young daughter.But during Mr. Provissiero\u2019s annual physical at the longevity clinic, his physician, Dr. Darshan Shah, gave him a sobering warning. Despite his healthy habits, Mr. Provissiero\u2019s blood sugar was nearing prediabetic levels. A family history heightened his risk of developing diabetes, which can shave years off a person\u2019s life expectancy. When a stricter diet and exercise regimen didn\u2019t move the needle, Dr. Shah prescribed metformin.Scientists have known for decades that metformin lowers blood sugar. It\u2019s approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat Type 2 diabetes and is also commonly prescribed for weight loss and polycystic ovary syndrome. But some doctors, including Mr. Provissiero\u2019s, are betting this same drug can head off a number of chronic diseases before they even develop, to help otherwise healthy people live longer and better.\u201cThe hope is that this is going to lead to a greater number of healthy years,\u201d said Mr. Provissiero, who lives in Malibu, Calif. After one year on metformin, he said he feels less bloated, more energetic and more in control of his weight and blood sugar.Research on metformin\u2019s impact on the human life span is scant. The existing research, much of which has been done on mice, is \u201call over the place,\u201d showing varying effects based on the animals\u2019 sex and species, said Rafael de Cabo, a senior investigator at the National Institute on Aging who has studied metformin in mice for over two decades. Human studies, which have largely focused on diabetes patients, turn up conflicting findings on metformin\u2019s benefits for healthy people, he said.Still, interest in metformin\u2019s anti-aging potential has remained high as scientists find early but promising evidence that it could also manage or delay other conditions like cardiovascular disease, cancer and dementia. \u201cMetformin may be targeting the root cause\u201d of several other diseases whose risks increase with age, potentially because it regulates hormones, repairs tissues and eases immune system inflammation, Dr. de Cabo said.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and\u00a0log into\u00a0your Times account, or\u00a0subscribe\u00a0for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber?\u00a0Log in.Want all of The Times?\u00a0Subscribe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26935,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26933","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26933","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=26933"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26933\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26936,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26933\/revisions\/26936"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/26935"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=26933"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=26933"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=26933"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}