It’s a legend: a way to stop – or at least slow down – aging.
Unlike Ponce de León in search of immortality in the swamps of Florida, however, a growing number of scientists now believe that a treatment for type 2 diabetes may be the key to slowing down the aging process, according to The Washington Post.
More specifically, scientists believe that the treatment – called metformin – can help prevent or slow down three age-related illnesses: dementia, heart disease and cancer. If metformin can effectively fight these diseases, it can also potentially extend our lifespan.
Note the language: you can extend our service life. No make us immortal.
“This is not about the fountain of youth,” said Nir Barzilai, director of the Aging Research Institute at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. WaPo. “This is taking an older person and making them young. What we are saying is that we can delay aging. “
Barzilai was part of a group of scientists who met in Spain in 2014 to discuss methods of combating aging. This meeting led to the formation of a proposed six-year clinical trial called Target aging with metformin (TAME), which will take a deeper look at metformin’s anti-aging capabilities. It is scheduled to involve 3,000 individuals between the ages of 65 and 79, at 14 research centers at universities in the United States, according to the TAME website.
The scientists behind TAME were encouraged to create the test after seeing several promising studies. One published in Diabetes, obesity and metabolism showed evidence that diabetics who took metformin survived non-diabetics who did not. A separate study, published in the journal Cell Metabolism, showed encouraging treatment results in the three age-related illnesses mentioned above.
In a world where the coronavirus pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on elderly populations, the study is more relevant and important than ever – or so says Corinna Ross, associate professor of population health at Southwest National Primate Research Center in Texas. She has been studying the impact of drugs like metformin on animals.
“See what’s going on now,” said Ross WaPo. “COVID is exploding around us, and the people most at risk are in nursing homes. If we can prevent people from needing long-term care by reducing the impacts of aging, we can reduce the impact on families, medical costs, the health care system and the economy in general. “
It is important to keep in mind that the study, while promising, is still in its infancy. Its trajectory over the next few years will determine the full effectiveness and applicability of treatments like metformin – and, perhaps, the way we will age in the future.