Could this diabetes drug boost your longevity?

A drug commonly used to treat diabetes may also slow the ageing process.

US researchers will begin a clinical trial next year to see how metformin – used to control blood sugar levels – effects bodily processes as we age. Called TAME (Targeting Ageing with Metformin) scientists across America have recruited 3000 participants to take part.

Aged 70 to 80 years old, volunteers will either have or be at risk of dementia, heart disease and cancer. Researchers believe if the trial is successful, a 70 year old should be as biologically healthy as a 50 year old. Currently, the life expectancy for Australians born in 2015 is 80.3 years for men and 84.4 years for women.

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If the trial were successful, it would give doctors the potential to not just fight individual conditions, such as cancer, diabetes and dementia, but treat the underlying mechanism – which is ageing.

While this is the first trial on humans, metformin has previously been shown to extend the life of animals. Researchers have found that metformin could increase a mouse’s life span by nearly 40 per cent and increase the strength of their bones.

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Last year, researchers from Cardiff University found when patients with diabetes were given metformin, they lived longer than those without the condition, even though on average, they should have died eight years earlier.

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According to study advisor Professor Gordon Lithgow, this trial is revolutionary. “I’ve been doing research into ageing for 25 years and the idea that we would be talking about a clinical trial in humans for an anti-ageing drug would have been thought inconceivable. But there is every reason to believe it’s possible.”

Metformin has already been highlighted to treat polycystic ovarian syndrome, gestational diabetes kidney disease and some cancer.

Related:

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How a healthy lifestyle improves brain power

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