Diabetes drug Metformin to get tests for life extension
I'd take the idea of an anti-aging pill with some skepticism, and the breathless speculative tone of this article with even more...but, could be big news.
Diabetes Drug Metformin Could Increase Human Lifespan To 120 Years (The Inquisitr News)
Researchers plan to conduct the first clinical trials of the project, dubbed Targeting Aging with Metformin (TAME), next year to see whether results obtained in animals can also be replicated in humans. Researchers are hopeful of a major breakthrough in the decades-long search for an anti-aging drug.
The study, to be conducted in the U.S., will involve 3,000 adults aged 70- to 80-years-old, with known risk of cancer, heart disease, and neurodegenerative diseases that cause cognitive impairment, and people who already have one or a combination of the conditions.
The individuals will be placed on the drug and monitored to see if it exerts significant preventive effect on the disease conditions, or whether it affects the progress of the conditions and overall lifespan of participants.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given approval for trials to proceed.
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Although researchers believe there are other drugs that could be more effective than metformin for delaying aging, they are focusing on metformin because it has been shown to be a safe drug for humans after six decades of use for controlling type 2 diabetes.