Some may have heard of Met as a diabetic drug, but has far ranging benefits and the data continues to mount there’s legit anti aging/longevity benefits to be had. Recent article:
A Study Showed Metformin Anti-Aging Benefits:
For those who want to get deep into the weeds:
Interesting articles even if I don’t quiet understand all of the terms. My old doctor put me Metformin several years ago because of rising glucose reading (from my normal readings). He had me on 1000mg per day. New doctor cut me back to 250mg per day because my A1C remains at or under 5.8.
I hope the anticancer possibility is true. I think everyone worries about the big C on occasion. The possibility of longer life is good or bad depending on if you are glass half empty or half full kind of person.
I have a friend who had to come off Metformin because was causing diarrhea. Not everyone can tolerate it.
Ironically, it can be bad for the renal system and cause renal failure. Good for a lot of people, but far from a wonder drug. A lot of docs are moving away from metformin to SGLT2 meds.
My wife is on Metformin due to her cancer med causing very high glucose levels. Yea, it causes diarrhea for her too. My cousin avoids taking his too for the very same reason.
Met has an exceptional safety record. Do you have a source on that one? It is indeed about as close to a wonder drug as exists in terms of risk/benefit and I have not seen data that it’s nephrotoxic at therapeutic doses used in studies, of which there are many. In some specific patient populations, there are possible contraindications, and per usual in that population, risk/benefit needs to be assessed.
There appears to benefits even for those with CKD:
She’s dealing with medical/metabolic issues there, so a different issue. What’s the dose? Taking with food? Titrate dose up slowly? It causes changes, beneficial changes BTW, to gut biome (1) and that takes some adjustments for some. GI upset is most common side effect. Start with 250mg taken with a meal, work up to dose doc subscribed.
Obviously, she’s got a lot going on and anything that adds to GI stress along with with what ever else she’s using for meds, etc has to be accounted for and is not using for general anti aging purposes.
See comments in #6. Properly added, most tolerate it well and one has to find the dose they tolerate which takes titration as needed.
Lactic acidosis induced by metformin (2010), Drug Safety, vol 33.
Metformin and other antidiabetic agents in renal failure patients (2015), Kidney International, vol 87.
Metformin is a great drug with the right patient. But just not all patients. But that is true for all drugs.
You know what else was considered a wonder drug? Ivermectin.
Per above, latest thinking on that is via NIH page and it’s changed some, but as I said, contraindications always exist. The way you had worded it would lead someone to think it’s nephrotoxic, and that is not the case. Under specific circumstances/patient populations, it may not be the best choice, but even in those populations, latest data seems to be changing on that too. Old warnings were based on creatinine levels, which is a poor indicator at best, FDA has changed it’s position in fact as new data came out:
“We have concluded from the review of studies published in the medical literature that metformin can be used safely in patients with mild impairment in kidney function and in some patients with moderate impairment in kidney function.3-6 We are requiring changes to the metformin labeling to reflect this new information and provide specific recommendations on the drug’s use in patients with mild to moderate kidney impairment.”
In terms of the OP, in healthy people using it for anti aging / longevity, there’s no reason to worry about kidney issues.
Ivermectin is a wonder drug (hence the Nobel Prize), it’s just not a wonder drug for curing covid. :laugh:
That wasn’t what I said; at least, not what I had implied. I try to be neutral given that I am not an ordering provider. I get leery of claims of ‘wonder drugs’ when we’ve seen a) it can become politicized or monetized, and b) a lot of ‘wonder drugs’ end up being bad (i.e., phen-phen). I also try to apply by own analysis in my context of what I have seen work and not work.
I think one reason we see metformin so popular is that it’s been around for a while, it’s cheap, and it has a known safety profile. I do doubt we’ll see it go very far off-formulary for a lot of things. We are seeing clinically something called the ‘COVID effect’: providers NOT ordering meds so as to not be cast in the same light as ivermectin, etc. I am also seeing it prescribed less now in favor of SGLT2 meds, but a lot remains to be seen how those pan out over time.
If you were without any sci/med background and or knowledge of met, and read the opening sentence “Ironically, it can be bad for the renal system and cause renal failure.” would indicate to a reader the drug in inherently toxic to the kidneys, no? That’s how I would read it. And, per modern recs from FDA etc, it’s now not even contraindicated for those with mild/moderate CKD and the prior warnings no longer accurate apparently.
In very rare cases, in specific diabetic populations, with severe CKD, it can cause acidosis, and that appears about it, which of course has no bearing on those the OP article is aimed at.
I agree that we may not see it go very far off-formulary, but you’d be surprised how many docs are giving to patients that are not diebetics, and of course the concept of preemptive anti aging medicine and approaches are a foreign concept to most med pros. That too is changing. FYI, Met is the first drug for FDA’s approval of the first human study to see if metformin can protect against the multiple diseases of aging.
If I were without any sci/medical background or knowledge I sure wouldn’t come to M4C as my first line of education lol…
I get what you are saying. I do stand by my comments, though. And again, my comments come with an asterisk as a non-prescribing clinician. It’s a fine line to weave being able to educate while not coming off as promoting. Kind of a version of caveat emptor.