A new study explores anti-aging properties of metformin

Wow - very interesting and quite disturbing as well since Metformin is gaining prominence as an anti-aging drug as well as a diabetes drug.

I've been using it for a year now, so far I've never experienced diarrhea

Nelson Vergel said:

Stop the Metformin Madness

Jun 18, 2015 by Chandler Marrs, PhD


I have never been a fan of Metformin. It seemed too good to be true. Many years ago I had a conversation with a researcher about all of its possible therapeutic indications. His lab was actively pursuing the anti-cancer angle. That should have been a clue that Metformin might be causing more damage than we recognized, but it wasn’t. At that point, I was still enamored with the wonders of pharmacology and hadn’t yet begun my path toward understanding medication adverse reactions. Indeed, it wasn’t until very recently, when a family member began suffering from one of these reactions, that I began my investigation in full. This is what I learned.

http://www.hormonesmatter.com/metformin-madness/



Comments, anyone?

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I read the article a couple of weeks ago. When you Google around and research around on Metformin, her's is the only article that will appear with such disdain for Metformin. She did a lot of research due to her mother's condition, her mother was on a lot of meds due to poor health. I'm not totally buying all the way into her article, other than you need to be taking vitamin B12 certainly, and stay on Creatine due to the decline in ATP that Metformin can cause. It there were more researchers with her same very strong opinions on the drug, I would buy in more.

I tried it and felt worse for the experience. As I recall I felt constipated all the time with it.

I'm a few days on it, only 250mg 2x day and I feel extremely tired, brainfoged. Will stop it.....

While I do not have a strong family Hx of DM-II, my grandfather did have it and became insulin dependent. I am for sure insulin resistant. Over a year ago I began max dose metformin. It's been a metabolic game changer for me. Truly remarkable. The life extension stuff is icing on the cake.

I really believe I've halted a potential worsening of insulin resistance but I'm also in the camp that if you need to go Keto to avoid DM then you should do it. Metformin has prevented me from having to take in essentially very little carbs.

Vince said:

Metformin: New 'wonder drug' may help prevent lung cancer in smokers

Metformin inhibits a hormone called insulin-like growth factor-1, or IGF-1, which explains its anti-diabetes activity. But IGF-1 also plays a crucial role in cancer development, and a variety of observational studies have hinted that, by blocking its activity, metformin may inhibit cancer.

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Why would you want to inhibit IGF-1? Aren't a whole bunch of us here taking Sermorelin to increase IGF-1?

Agreed. That is a catch-22 of this drug I believe. Metformin seems to have real anti-aging potential, but in reducing IGF-1, it would seem, on paper at least, to slow or somewhat inhibit muscle growth. I have to idea to what degree though and of course if one is a diabetic, getting that controlled is first and foremost in importance.

Metformin is a widespread oral medication to increase insulin sensitivity in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D).
[h=2]Metformin influences nitrogen and urea metabolism[/b]
According to a number of studies, it additionally reduces the risk of cardiovascular complications. Last year, a team led by Dr. Rui Wang-Sattler discovered that metformin intake lowers the levels of the harmful LDL cholesterol by activating the AMPK protein complex. Dr. Wang-Sattler is head of the "Metabolism" research group in the Research Unit of Molecular Epidemiology at the Institute of Epidemiology II at the Helmholtz Zentrum München. Her group aims to understand the molecular mechanisms that underlie the activity of metformin.

https://www.helmholtz-muenchen.de/e...ess-information-news/article/35881/index.html

Nelson Vergel said:

I am starting 500 mg twice per day soon. I will be monitoring my glucose with a meter before I start for a few days and then while I am on it. I want to lose some visceral fat.

http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=192922

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19055407

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How is the metformin treating you, any insight into its effectiveness?

Nelson I, like the poster before me, am also curious as to how you are doing on the Metformin. Are you still taking it? How has it effected your glucose level and your visceral fat?
thanks!
Pat

any updates Nelson?

If it inhibits IGF-1, doesn't that speed up fat loss?

I have lost 10 pounds without trying in the past 2 months using 500 mg twice per day with meals. I think my visceral fat may have decreased some.

Researchers have uncovered a previously unknown molecular mechanism that works at the cell level to help protect the epithelial tissue that lines various body cavities and organs in the body. The discovery may help explain why the widely prescribed diabetes drug metformin appears to preserve the epithelial barrier's ability to ward off infection, resist inflammation, and suppress tumors.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/314520.php

Nelson Vergel said:

Researchers have uncovered a previously unknown molecular mechanism that works at the cell level to help protect the epithelial tissue that lines various body cavities and organs in the body. The discovery may help explain why the widely prescribed diabetes drug metformin appears to preserve the epithelial barrier's ability to ward off infection, resist inflammation, and suppress tumors.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/314520.php

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WOW, thank you sir for this

I'm also on 1000mg of ER MEtformin for two months, and I eat like a horse, and also, my visceral fat is slowly going down. I had a terrible gut problems with standard metformin, but with this ER, not at all.
Will try to bump it to 2x750 daily.

Speed said:

WOW, thank you sir for this

I'm also on 1000mg of ER MEtformin for two months, and I eat like a horse, and also, my visceral fat is slowly going down. I had a terrible gut problems with standard metformin, but with this ER, not at all.
Will try to bump it to 2x750 daily.

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That's what I use, Metformin ER 750 mg twice a day.

Nelson Vergel said:

Stop the Metformin Madness- Hormones Matter

Comments, anyone?

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Old thread I know, but I think there is room to question the story of the article. If it was all true, shouldn't we expect more evidence of real world outcomes with all the millions taking it? At least she begins by declaring her preemptive distrust.

I find it misleading to mix together known issues with supposition and unproven conclusion, which is present more than once. But worse than that there is some either careless or wilful misrepresentation of some of the data in the studies referenced.

On B12, there are some valid concerns, but you could argue the fact that people taking metformin are not being given the information is the problem.

Leeching is a poor description. Blocking aborption would have been better. It would have been more informative to point out the degree of blocking, the typical rate of depletion, and that with screening and supplementation it's really not problem if you're informed.

The statement about ATP production seems misleading if you actually read what she's referenced:

"Metformin reduces mitochondrial ATP production in skeletal muscle by as much as 48%. Sit with that one for a moment, a 48% reduction in cell fuel. Imagine functioning at only half capacity. This would make basic activities difficult at best and exercising to lose weight a very unlikely proposition"

To achieve a 48% drop according to the study (if I was a 100kg rat) I would need to consume 30g (30,000mg) of metformin. Note also that an equivalent of 3g per day, no ATP reduction effects were produced.

"..the types of disturbances we might see become quite clear: neurocognitive decline, psychiatric instability, neuropathy, heart rate, rhythm and blood pressure abnormalities, along with gastrointestinal distress to name but a few. Underlying all of these symptoms, and indeed, all mitochondrial dysfunction, is an overwhelming sense of fatigue and malaise."

On associating metformin with neurocognitive decline, which suggests to the casual reader a causal relationship, a quick search turns up stuff which reports the opposite.

GI distress is well documented, but not concretely tied to mitochondrial function. It seems doubtful metformin affects blood pressure in a meaningful way. Likewise, there is no obvious evidence I have found that points to metformin causing fatigue, unless lactic acidosis is about to kill you.

The study referenced describes measuring short term insulin sensitivity changes after one bout of exercise. Reading further on this, I think it would be wrong to draw conclusions This study makes the picture clearer, and notes:

"Although acute bouts of exercise can increase insulin sensitivity for up to 48 h, the time-course effects of the combined treatment remain unclear. Despite the lack of additive effects on insulin sensitivity, combining metformin with training, as described in the recent American Diabetes Association clinical recommendations (9), may still be a potentially useful strategy to prevent the transition from prediabetes to diabetes. "

Regarding aerobic capacity, Marrs states:

"Metformin also reduces peak aerobic capacity, reducing performance and making exercise more difficult."

Again it's not such a clear picture or black and white story on cardio. There is evidence that perceived exertion has increased, but changes to vo2 max were not significant. This study suggests metformin can play a role in improving cardiovascular function in insulin resistant subjects.

Marrs doesn't touch on this, but regarding resistance training and muscle synthesis, it seems likely that there is a positive effect from metformin at least in older people.

Regarding the immune system impact of metformin, with all the convincing theory you would expect to easily find evidence if rates of disease and infection to be impacted by metformin users. But it's easy to find evidence of the opposite.

I would argue it's irresponsible for someone presenting things as facts to mix in statements like:

"I would suspect predisposes those who take Metformin to more infections "

Because readers will believe it, even though it really does seem like a baseless suspicion

In all the studies I've linked, I promise there has been no cherry picking or digging. In almost every case I've taken the first Google results looking for the subject matter. Try for yourself, and don't believe everyone with a PhD who throws out lots of big words and study references.

Most of the issues talked about would be in someone that would already have these problems from the their poor health. This is why they are taking Metformin. This is like overweight people drinking diet drinks and doing a study on how fat they are drinking them.

Nelson Vergel said:

Research has found that metformin targets the chemicals produced by age-related senescent cells—normal cells that stop dividing and produce toxic substances damaging to the cells around them, said James Kirkland, director of the Robert and Arlene Kogod Center on Aging at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., and part of the TAME planning team. Senescent cells usually develop as people age or at sites of age-related chronic diseases, such as the brain in Alzheimer’s patients or around the plaques that lead to heart attacks and strokes, he said. It isn’t proven if senescent cells actually cause the disease.
Metformin appears also to slow the development of age-related symptoms by increasing the enzyme AMP kinase, which normally declines with age, and decreasing the protein mTOR, which helps to regulate cell growth.

Scientists’ New Goal: Growing Old Without Disease

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My doctor put me on 500mg of metformin/d about 10 years ago for this exact reason. I had ask him about it and we discussed the current research and he asked me if I wanted to give it a try. Thanks for posting this!

Nelson Vergel said:

Stop the Metformin Madness

Jun 18, 2015 by Chandler Marrs, PhD


I have never been a fan of Metformin. It seemed too good to be true. Many years ago I had a conversation with a researcher about all of its possible therapeutic indications. His lab was actively pursuing the anti-cancer angle. That should have been a clue that Metformin might be causing more damage than we recognized, but it wasn't. At that point, I was still enamored with the wonders of pharmacology and hadn't yet begun my path toward understanding medication adverse reactions. Indeed, it wasn't until very recently, when a family member began suffering from one of these reactions, that I began my investigation in full. This is what I learned.

Stop the Metformin Madness- Hormones Matter



Comments, anyone?

Click to expand...

I do not think it is a magical pill. I do think it can help lowering a1c and prevent diabetes. Which is wonderful in itself. As far as anti aging I think there are many caveats to consider. Im on 500 mg nightly and I do not use it on heavy lifting or running days because it can negate the effects of cardio by hindering VO2 max. On rest days why not?