A Diabetes Medication That Costs 6 Cents A Pill Could Be A Key To Living Longer
American Federation for Aging Research Deputy Scientific Director Nir Barzilai, MD, discusses the promise of the FDA-approved drug Metformin to delay multiple age-related conditions at a 2016 event. AP A generic drug that's used to treat type 2 diabetes could help people live longer, healthier lives. Metformin, a drug that's been approved in the US for decades, is typically taken as a pill every day by people with diabetes. But now researchers are looking into whether the drug could hold the key to living longer — and early research seems promising. Dr. Nir Barzilai, the director of Institute for Aging Research at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, has been researching the drug, with the hopes of one day getting it approved as an anti-aging treatment by the FDA. If future research yields good results, metformin could become a much cheaper option than other approaches biotech companies are taking to help us live healthier, longer lives. A potential anti-aging drug that's been around for ages Metformin has been around in one form or another for centuries — Wired reports that it's actually a modified version of a compound found in the flower Galega officinalis, which you may know as French lilac. It was approved by the FDA for diabetes treatment of type 2 diabetes in 1994 (not type 1, which is the result of an autoimmune disorder) though it was available in other countries before then. Today, metformin one of the most popular prescriptions in the US, according to GoodRx. The drug can cost as little as $4, or 6 cents a pill. Since metformin was approved for diabetes, it has started to be used off-label to treat conditions like pre-diabetes, gestational diabetes, and polycystic ovarian disease. Some retrospective studies and preclinical work have indica Continue reading >>
Metformin – The World’s First True Anti-aging Drug
Metformin – The World’s First True Anti-Aging Drug Metformin is truly an amazing drug. It has potentially far-reaching effects on everything from diabetes, obesity, cancer, and heart disease to general life extension. Metformin, Insulin Sensitivity, and Fat Loss Next to aspirin, metformin, originally known as glucophage (“sugar eater”), is one of the oldest drugs in use. It was invented in 1959 and used freely in other countries, but the ever-cautious FDA didn’t approve it for use in the U.S. until 1995. The drug is currently used by type II diabetics the world over to help them handle dietary sugar or, more broadly, carbohydrates. However, when people who don’t have diabetes take metformin, it generally leads to fat loss because it also allows the non-diabetic person to handle carbs better. Bodybuilders have long been fans of the drug because it makes muscle cells more sensitive to insulin so that more nutrients can be shuttled towards muscle cells. While it’s doing its magic on muscle cells, metformin simultaneously de-sensitizes fat cells to insulin’s effect so fat cells can’t store nutrients as easily. As such, muscles get bigger and fat stores get smaller. Metformin and Cancer It seems that just about every chemical either causes cancer or helps prevent it, but a recent report involving metformin’s effects on cancer are truly noteworthy. In one of the largest studies of its kind, a group of scientists pored over the 10-year case histories of 8,000 type II diabetics who’d been using metformin.(1) They found that metformin users had an incredible 54% lower incidence of all cancers compared to the general population. Not only did the drug exhibit a preventative effect, but the metformin users who developed cancer had a much higher survival rate, Continue reading >>
Off-label Drugs For Weight Management
Center for Weight Management, Roseville and Sacramento, CA, USA Correspondence: Ed J Hendricks, Center for Weight Management, 2510 Douglas Blvd, Suite 200, Roseville, CA 95661, USA, Tel +1 916 202 5759, Email ten.tsewerus@skcirdnehde Author information Copyright and License information Disclaimer Copyright 2017 Hendricks. This work is published and licensed by Dove Medical Press Limited The full terms of this license are available at and incorporate the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (unported, v3.0) License ( ). By accessing the work you hereby accept the Terms. Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted without any further permission from Dove Medical Press Limited, provided the work is properly attributed. The global pandemic of obesity and overweight now affects between 2.8 and 3.5 billion of the world population and shows no signs of abatement. Treatment for what is now recognized as a chronic disease includes pharmacotherapy, considered an essential component of comprehensive therapy. New drug discovery is robust, but the pace of the US Food and Drug Administration approval for obesity drugs has been glacial, and only a handful of approved drugs are available for treating obesity. In the last 20 years, the US Food and Drug Administration has approved 208 drugs for cancer, 118 for cardiovascular diseases, 168 for neurological diseases, and 223 endocrinologic drugs, but only 6 for obesity, 2 of which have been taken off market. Currently, there are only 9 drugs approved by the FDA for obesity treatment. US physicians have turned to off-label drug use in their effort to care for increasing numbers of patients with excess adiposity. Phentermine is the most commonly used drug for treating obesity. Although approved only for short-term use, US physician Continue reading >>
Metformin For Protection Against Alzheimer's, Cancer And Heart Disease?
With commentary by Nir Barzilai, MD, director of the Institute for Aging Research, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and Brian Kennedy, PhD, president and CEO of the Buck Institute for Research on Aging. Metformin may influence fundamental aging factors that underlie many age-related conditions, including cancer, heart disease and Alzheimer's, says Nir Barzilai, MD, director of the Institute for Aging Research at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, the Bronx. "Metformin is generic, and it's cheap," Dr. Barzilai says. And accumulating data suggests that ''it interferes with the biology of aging." Aging, he says, is a primary risk factor for not only diabetes but also most of our big killers, such as Alzheimer's, heart disease and cancer. In animal and human studies, metformin has shown promise in slowing the aging process and halting diseases. To study the potential of metformin further, Dr. Barzilai plans to launch a large-scale study, Targeting Aging with METformin (TAME), to look at the effects of metformin compared to placebo. His team has already completed the MILES study, Metformin in Longevity, and are analyzing the results. In that study, they gave some participants metformin, at 1,700 milligrams a day, and others placebo. The aim was to see if the metformin could restore the gene expression profile of an older person with blood sugar problems known as impaired glucose tolerance (but not yet diabetic), to that of a younger person. Dr. Barzilai knows he has critics of his approach. He brushed them off, saying the people who don't see the value of the research ''don't understand the biology of aging and that it can be changed." He doesn't see the research as testing an anti-aging drug. "Aging is not a disease and we don't want it to be a disease," he says. Howe Continue reading >>
Metformin, The Anti-aging Miracle Drug
Metformin, The Anti-Aging Miracle Drug Diabetes Drugs Take A BAD RAP This article is part two of a series, for part one, click here. You probably think of Diabetes Drugs as all lumped together as “Bad Drugs”. For many years , I certainly did. Perhaps it was the Avandia story that gave Diabetes Drugs a Bad Rap and made us think poorly of ALL Diabetes Drugs. Upper Left Image: Photo of French Lilac Plant , the plant origin of Metformin, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. Avandia, the “BAD Drug” for Diabetes Take the case of Avandia, approved in 1999, it quickly became the world’s best selling diabetes drug. However, 8 years later, the New England Journal reported that Avandia causes increased heart attack rates, and sales were suspended in Europe.(1A) In November 2011, GlaxoSmithKline admitted they withheld safety data on Avandia and agreed to pay the US government 3 billion in civil and criminal penalties related to illegal marketing. The Avandia case gave all diabetes drugs a “Bad Rap”. The reality is that there is one diabetes drug that has stood the test of time, and is in fact a “Good Drug”. This is Metformin. Perhaps the plant origin of the drug makes it a “good drug”. Metformin, the “Good Drug” Is There Anyone Who Should not Take It ? At the May 2012 Orlando A4M Meeting, Terry Grossman, M.D. from Golden Colorado gave an excellent presentation on Metformin. Credit and thanks goes to Terry Grossman MD for sharing his talk at the meeting with all of us. Much of this article comes from Grossman’s PowerPoint slides. Dr Terry Grossman is co-author of the Ray Kurzweil book, Fantastic Voyage. Upper Left Image : Photo of Terry Grossman MD, courtesy of Terry Grossman MD. Metformin by Terry Grossman MD- Metformin Discovery and Approval Discovered in the Continue reading >>
Off-label Use Of Metformin Common In U.s. Adolescents
Off-label use of metformin common in U.S. adolescents (HealthDay)In U.S. adolescents, off-label use of metformin is common, according to a study published online March 9 in the Journal of Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics. Tongtong Wang, Ph.D., and colleagues from Merck & Co. in Kenilworth, N.J., examined metformin prescription patterns among U.S. adolescents from 2009 to 2013. They analyzed data from the National Disease and Therapeutic Index (NDTI) database, the MarketScan Commercial Claims and Encounters database, and the Multi-State Medicaid database. The researchers found that the most common diagnoses associated with metformin use in the NDTI database were diabetes, metabolic syndrome, polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), and obesity (34.9, 20.9, 17.2, and 6.5 percent, respectively). Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) was the most common diagnosis associated with metformin use among girls aged 10 to 14 years (22.8 to 23.6 percent), boys aged 10 to 14 years (20.5 to 24.5 percent), and boys aged 15 to 19 years (37.1 to 43.1 percent), while for girls aged 15 to 19 years, PCOS was the most common diagnosis (24.1 to 28.3 percent) in the MarketScan Commercial database. Among all four groups, T2DM was the most common diagnosis associated with metformin use in the Medicaid database, with higher proportions seen than in their counterparts in the Commercial database. "To avoid potential overestimation, caution should be exercised when utilizing metformin prescription as a proxy measure to estimate the burden of T2DM in adolescents ," the authors write. The authors were all employed by Merck & Co., a manufacturer of metformin . Ranolazine added to glimepiride cuts HbA1c in T2DM (HealthDay)For patients with type 2 diabetes on background glimepiride therapy, but not metformin, a Continue reading >>
Off-label Metformin Use Common In Teens
(HealthDay News) In US adolescents, off-label use of metformin is common, according to a study published in the Journal of Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics. Tongtong Wang, PhD, and colleagues from Merck & Co. in Kenilworth, New Jersey, examined metformin prescription patterns among US adolescents from 2009 to 2013. They analyzed data from the National Disease and Therapeutic Index (NDTI) database, the MarketScan Commercial Claims and Encounters database, and the Multi-State Medicaid database. The researchers found that the most common diagnoses associated with metformin use in the NDTI database were diabetes, metabolic syndrome , polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), and obesity (34.9%, 20.9%, 17.2%, and 6.5%, respectively). Type 2 diabetes was the most common diagnosis associated with metformin use among girls aged 10 to 14 years (22.8% to 23.6%), boys aged 10 to 14 years (20.5% to 24.5%), and boys aged 15 to 19 years (37.1% to 43.1%), while for girls aged 15 to 19 years, PCOS was the most common diagnosis (24.1% to 28.3%) in the MarketScan Commercial database. Among all 4 groups, type 2 diabetes was the most common diagnosis associated with metformin use in the Medicaid database, with higher proportions seen than in their counterparts in the Commercial database. "To avoid potential overestimation, caution should be exercised when utilizing metformin prescription as a proxy measure to estimate the burden of type 2 diabetes in adolescents," the researchers wrote. The authors were all employed by Merck & Co., a manufacturer of metformin. Continue reading >>
Metformin Longevity Cheatsheet For Off-label Use To Extend Your Life
Thistype II diabetes drugis being studiedas a possible supplement to extend human life. Here's what you need to know about off-label use of Metformin. In This Metformin Cheatsheet, You'll Learn: What a top researchersays is the optimal theraputic dosage for longevity What side effects you are likelyrun into How get around the side effects of Metformin. What to say to your doctor to have Metformin prescribed for you for theraputic use. When and how to take Metforim for off-label use. Disclaimer:This report about off-label use ofMetformin for Longevity is a cheatsheet designed to share personal experiences in using Metformin for the off-label use of extending human life. It is not intended or to be used as or in place of professional medical advice. Any off-labeluse of any drug, including Metformin, should be done under the supervision of your family doctor or other medical professional that you trust with your personal health. Download the cheatsheet that tells you what you need to know to use Metformin as a longevity supplement Continue reading >>
Forget The Blood Of Teens. This Pill Promises To Extend Life For A Nickel A Pop
Nir Barzilai has a plan. It’s a really big plan that might one day change medicine and health care as we know it. Its promise: extending our years of healthy, disease-free living by decades. And Barzilai knows about the science of aging. He is, after all, the director of the Institute for Aging Research at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx. And, as such, he usually talks about his plan with the caution of a seasoned researcher. Usually. Truth is, Barzilai is known among his colleagues for his excitability—one author says he could pass as the older brother of Austin Powers—and sometimes he can’t help himself. Like the time he referred to his plan—which, among other things, would demonstrate that human aging can be slowed with a cheap pill—as “history-making.” In 2015, he stood outside of the offices of the Food and Drug Administration, flanked by a number of distinguished researchers on aging, and likened the plan to a journey to “the promised land.” Last spring, Barzilai traveled to the Vatican to discuss the plan at a conference on cellular therapies. It was the second time he’d been invited to the conference, which is a pretty big deal in the medical world. At the last one, in 2013, he appeared alongside a dwarf from Ecuador, a member of a community of dwarfs whose near immunity to diabetes and cancer has attracted the keen interest of researchers. The 2016 conference featured a number of the world’s top cancer scientists and included addresses from Pope Francis and Joe Biden. That Barzilai was invited was a sign not only of his prominence in his field but also of how far aging research, once relegated to the periphery of mainstream science, has come in recent years. That progress has been spurred by huge investments from Sil Continue reading >>
Beyond Diabetes, Metformin May Prove To Be A Wonder Drug
, "Should metformin be the first-line therapy choice in type 2 diabetes treatment?" In the past 2 decades, metformin has become a mainstay of type 2 diabetes management and is now the recommended first-line drug for treating the disease in the United States and worldwide. Available in the United States since 1995, metformin is an attractive therapy for clinicians and patients alike. Studies have found the agent to be safe and effective, and at about $4 for a 1-month supply of the generic, that option is affordable at a time when many prescription drugs are being priced out of reach for some patients. Metformin is the first drug of choice, by all standards, Oluwaranti Akiyode, PharmD, RPh, BCPS, CDE, professor and clinical pharmacist at Howard University School of Pharmacy, told Endocrine Today. Its a rarity that all experts agree on something. It is time-tested, proven, has good efficacy, a good safety profile and its cheap. Metformin has been around long before it came to the United States. Thats why I find it amazing that we only have one drug in that class. New research is suggesting that metformin may hold promise in treating or preventing a whole host of conditions in patients with and without type 2 diabetes. Studies show metformin may be cardioprotective in patients with diabetes and beneficial in the presence of stable congestive heart failure. The agent also may help to increase pregnancy rate in polycystic ovary syndrome, provide breast and prostate cancer benefits, and offer neuroprotection that may reduce dementia and stroke risk, Akiyode said. Nir Barzilai, MD, is exploring whether metformin can target and delay aging, to decrease the incidence of age-related diseases in general, rather than merely decrease the incidence of diabetes. Photo courtesy of Albe Continue reading >>
What Health Problems Besides Diabetes May Be Treated With Metformin?
Insulin resistance is one of the key factors leading to diabetes, but it is increasingly recognized as an important issue in other settings as well. Insulin resistance itself increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, and most physicians now consider pre-diabetes to be a serious condition, not only because of the likely progression to diabetes but also because heart disease risk is higher in people with blood sugars in the pre-diabetic range than in those with normal blood sugar levels. Many physicians and diabetes researchers think it's appropriate to treat people with pre-diabetes with metformin, and some even advocate the use of metformin in a person with abdominal obesity, even if he or she has normal blood sugar levels. In addition, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is often treated with metformin. PCOS is a metabolic disorder that affects women of childbearing age. The symptoms include irregular periods and infertility, as well as excessive facial and body hair, acne, and hair loss from the scalp. PCOS is a complex disorder and not fully understood, but a major part of its cause appears to be insulin resistance. A high percentage of women with PCOS are also overweight. Metformin treatment sometimes helps with weight loss, often corrects irregular menstrual periods, and definitely improves fertility. In fact, because PCOS is one of the most common causes of infertility, metformin, a medication thought of as a diabetes drug, is also one of the most widely used infertility treatments. It's important to emphasize that all uses of metformin other than the treatment of diabetes are "off label." That is, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not approved metformin for use in these areas, but it is often of benefit and physicians frequently prescribe it for these p Continue reading >>
Metformin - Off Label Use - Weight Loss?
Home Q & A Questions Metformin - off label use -... depression , mania , obesity , lithium , metformin , weight , death , antidepressant , antipsychotic First off, I take a boat load of psych meds, some of which tend to lead to weight gain. Second I recently gave up a 36 year cigarette habit that I loved to death, and have gained quite a bit in the last six weeks. Because of the weight gain, my Dr.prescribed Metformin to help me with weight. I would like to know if anyone has had experience with Metformin prescribed to combat weight gain. I know, I know, maybe I am asking too much, but it has been three days, and my appetite seems no different. I do not know about that med, I just want to scream CONGRATULATIONS on quitting the coffin nails gurl !!! I was surprised to find about the 5th word listed in the indications and use that this drug(metformin or Glucophage) is used for Diabetes yet it is also used for individuals with excessive weight gain , so from what I read it does more than one thing I know when I started out it was a drug used for Diabetes, they have done further investigation and found that it is also effective for weight issues as well, If you do find effects that have not been mentioned to your family doctor be sure and give him a call and allow him to note these problems. Oh I had a thought (alert the media!) you could go back on the Topomax, freeze and be entirely too thin! LOL Methinks she quoth Edgar Allen Poe... lol I don't know about this drug, but CONGRAT's on the Stopping Smoking!!! I WISHED I did also. I am afraid I will gain too much weight that's why I'm still smoking, I guess it's just another excuse. I am off all meds. Cause I have gained 150lbs in the past 2 yrs while on all types of meds. I am so done with all types of meds. If I'm not dyi Continue reading >>
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Weekly Dose: Metformin, The Diabetes Drug Developed From French Lilac
Metformin is the most widely used drug to treat type 2 diabetes globally. In Australia, approximately two-thirds of patients with type 2 diabetes are prescribed metformin, either alone or in combination with other pills, or with insulin injections. Alongside diet and exercise, metformin is considered the first-choice drug to improve glucose control in type 2 diabetes. Metformin hydrochloride is the scientific or generic name for the active ingredient in tablets sold in Australia under 40 different proprietary or brand names. History Metformin was originally developed from natural compounds found in the plant Galega officinalis, known as French lilac or goat’s rue. Synthetic biguanides were developed in the 1920s in Germany, but their use was limited due to side effects. During the 1940s, however, French physician Jean Sterne examined a new biguanide called dimethylbiguanide or metformin. At the time, it was being studied for the treatment of influenza, but Sterne recognised it had glucose-lowering properties. He proposed calling it glucophage, meaning glucose eater, a name with which it is still commercially associated today. Metformin has been used to treat diabetes since the late 1950s. It is now on the World Health Organisation’s List of Essential Medicines needed for a basic health care system. How does it work? Insulin suppresses the production of glucose by the liver. One reason glucose levels remain high in those with type 2 diabetes is due to insufficient insulin. The liver continues to inappropriately make large amounts of glucose, even when glucose levels are already high. Metformin is able to reduce glucose production by the liver by approximately one-third, through mechanisms that remain to be fully understood. When taken as directed, it will reduce the Continue reading >>
Can Metformin Help With Weight Loss?
Metformin is a drug prescribed to manage blood sugar levels in people with type 2 diabetes. You may have heard that metformin can also help you lose weight. But is it true? The answer is a resounding maybe. Here’s what you should know about what metformin can do for weight loss, as well as why your doctor may prescribe it for you. According to research, metformin can help some people lose weight. However, it’s not clear why metformin may cause weight loss. One theory is that it may prompt you to eat less by reducing your appetite. It may also change the way your body uses and stores fat. Although studies have shown that metformin may help with weight loss, the drug is not a quick-fix solution. According to one long-term study, the weight loss from metformin tends to occur gradually over one to two years. The amount of weight lost also varies from person to person. In the study, the average amount of weight lost after two or more years was four to seven pounds. Taking the drug without following other healthy habits may not lead to weight loss. Individuals who follow a healthy diet and exercise while taking metformin tend to lose the most weight. This may be because metformin is thought to boost how many calories you burn during exercise. If you don’t exercise, you likely won’t have this benefit. In addition, any weight loss you have may only last as long as you take the medication. That means if you stop taking metformin, there’s a good chance you will return to your original weight. And even while you’re still taking the drug, you may slowly gain back any weight you’ve lost. In other words, metformin may not be the magic diet pill some people have been waiting for. It has been shown to reduce weight in some, but not others. One of the benefits of metformin Continue reading >>
Off Label Use For Metformin Including Longevity: Frequently Asked Questions
Super You: How Technology is Revolutionizing What It Means to Be Human You are here: Home cancer Off label use for metformin including longevity: Frequently Asked Questions Off label use for metformin including longevity: Frequently Asked Questions The Type II Diabetes drug Metformin is being touted as a possible longevity enhancing drug After extensively researching the longevity chapter in our book Super You: How Technology is Revolutionizing What it Means to Be Human , (written with my wife Kay Walkerand longtime collaborator Sean Carruthers) I came upon a low costtype II diabetes drug which I discovered enhances longevity. What follows is a guide tooff label use for Metformin for life extension or longevity enhancement. Metformin isa pharmaceutical drug used to treat type II diabetes, however in a series of studies it has been shown to improve longevity. And while the FDA has not yet approved its use as a therapeutic drug for longevity, it could actually happen. In the meantime, I decided to find a pro-active doctor that would prescribe it for me for off-label use. I also reach out to Dr Nir Barzilai, who has been one of the lead researchers on exploringmetformins longevity enhancing properties. Doctors have been increasingly willing to prescribe Metformin as a longevity supplement because the evidence that it works to extend human life is started to look extremely promising. Who do you know who is taking Metformin as a longevity supplement? Me, Andy Walker, the author of this FAQ, and the co-author of the book Super You There are not many, however, the common ones are:Dizziness and diarrhea. However you could experience nausea, vomiting, stomach upset, weakness, or a metallic taste in the mouth. Yes for some people it really is all about staying close to the toile Continue reading >>
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