Metformin has been used to treat patients with diabetes for many decades. (Representative/Shutterstock)
Research from India suggests that aging can be slowed by calorie restriction, and metformin helps reduce calories and activate AMP kinase. This makes it potentially effective in combating aging.
It may come as a surprise to learn that a pill taken by 90 percent of diabetes patients in India can help stop aging. Recently, research by scientists in Beijing, which has also been backed by some Indian experts, suggested that metformin, one of the cheapest drugs used to treat diabetes patients in India, may have anti-aging properties.
On September 12, a study by 43 researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences University in Beijing and other universities was published in the journal Cell. The study claimed that continuous and regular use of the diabetes drug Metformin had helped slow the aging of monkeys by six years. This implies that these monkeys started aging after six years.
This drug has been shown to have excellent anti-aging effects in monkeys, so it also has the potential to be effective in humans.
Speaking about this research, Dr Sanjay Kalra, President of the Longevity and Anti-Aging Medicine Association and a well-known endocrinologist from Karnal-based Bharti Hospital, said that the study is very interesting because metformin has been used to treat patients suffering from diabetes for many decades.
“We also know of other benefits of metformin. In addition to treating heart disease and diabetes complications, this drug can also reduce cancer complications,” he said.
So far, research has shown that metformin in diabetes patients helps to reduce the aging of many other human organs such as the heart, brain or blood vessels. Similar research has been conducted in India suggesting that aging can be prevented by calorie restriction and that metformin also works by reducing calories and activating AMP kinase. In such a situation, this drug may be effective against aging.
Professor Navneet Agarwal, group medical director of the Anti-Ageing Centre in Gurugram, said metformin is given to type 2 diabetes patients in government and private hospitals.
“It basically acts as an insulin-resistant drug and helps repair cells, besides working as an anti-inflammatory drug. There has been a lot of research done on metformin. In our centre, it is also used for anti-ageing treatment in pre-diabetic and overweight patients,” said Dr Agarwal.
Apart from this, this medicine is also used for the treatment of polycystic ovary syndrome in girls. This medicine is also used to treat obesity in patients. In such a situation, this research is correct and the medicine can prove to be effective in delaying aging.
