Marc Provissiero, a film and television producer, on what’s to come. He’s thinking about the next 30 or 40 years of his life and weighing the potential upside from taking metformin. As far as blood sugar control, this was a great medication. Now, researchers are thrilled about its promise to extend lifespan and delay or prevent age-related diseases.
For 30 years, researchers have known that metformin is effective at controlling blood sugar. Rafael de Cabo is a senior investigator at the National Institute on Aging. He has over 20 years of experience using the diabetes drug metformin to extend the lifespans of mice. His work has shown that the current evidence base for metformin is mixed and lacks standardization. Effects differ greatly depending on the sex and species of animals studied.
Provissiero’s drive to research metformin comes from his own family history, which puts him at greater risk for developing diabetes. No matter how many healthy lifestyle choices he added, his blood sugar kept climbing and creeping toward prediabetic levels. After a stricter diet and more rigorous exercise regimen failed to yield improvements, Dr. Darshan Shah prescribed metformin to help manage his condition.
The promise of metformin goes beyond controlling blood sugar. Scientific studies have found it to attack underlying mechanisms of many diseases which typically rise with aging. Recent research has suggested the ability of metformin to regulate hormones, repair connective tissue, and reduce immune system inflammation.
To take his health regimen even further, Provissiero signed up for a world-class longevity clinic that cost several hundred dollars a month. This decision allowed him to get much better control over his blood panels. In doing so, he started taking more interest in better nutrition and sleep quality. By the end of his first year on metformin, he said the bloating had subsided and he had increased energy. He further reported feeling more in control of both his weight and blood glucose levels.
Doctors like Dr. Shah have been making the case for metformin’s preventive potential. More importantly, they hope it can help chronic diseases from developing in the first place. Provissiero said he was looking forward to it. He thinks that leading to more healthy years for all of us.
