Metformin for Longevity: Does It Work?
Metformin is a first-line type 2 diabetes drug that has become the most talked-about anti-aging candidate in geroscience. Its mechanism is plausible — AMPK activation, mTOR restraint, insulin sensitization, and partial overlap with caloric-restriction signalling — and a famous observation once suggested diabetics taking it outlived matched non-diabetics. But there is no completed randomized trial proving metformin extends lifespan or healthspan in non-diabetic people; the TAME trial designed to test it has not been run at scale, existing human data are observational or in diabetics, and several trials show metformin can blunt the mitochondrial and strength adaptations to exercise. It is a prescription drug with real indications and real trade-offs, not a proven longevity supplement.
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