Many studies have shown that metformin helps to treat the life-shortening diseases that are the leading causes of death in North America today — diabetes, heart disease, several types of cancers, kidney disease, liver disease, obesity and others (Front Endocrinol, August 4, 2021;12). A review of 53 studies found that metformin is associated with a reduction of the death rate from these diseases, but at this time, metformin cannot be prescribed to slow aging because we do not have studies to show that metformin helps to prevent aging, not just symptoms of specific diseases (Ageing Res Rev, 2017;40(37):31-44). The TAME trial wants to change this by investigating whether metformin can delay aging overall, instead of just treating specific age-related diseases individually. If the TAME trial can show that it does have anti-aging effects, the organizers hope to gain FDA approval for metformin to treat aging.
The American Federation for Aging Research is asking people to donate money to fund this TAME Trial (Targeting Aging with Metformin). This group of researchers plans to enroll more than 3,000 people, 69-79 years of age, in a six-year trial at 14 leading research institutions across North America, centered at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, to test whether metformin will delay development or progression of age-related chronic diseases. Their website is https://www.afar.org/tame-trial None of the standard drug companies will fund a trial on metformin because there is no money in it for them. Metfomin is inexpensive and has been on the open market since 1958. It is generic and is the second most commonly prescribed medication in the United States, with more than 91 million prescriptions per year.
How Could Metformin Help to Delay Aging?
Metformin helps to prevent tissue damage by blocking inflammation and oxidation that accelerate aging,and even helps damaged tissue to heal. It lowers high blood sugar levels by increasing insulin’s effects on lowering high blood sugar levels, decreasing the amount of sugar released by the liver into the bloodstream, decreasing the amount of sugar absorbed from the intestines and increasing the amount of sugar excreted in the urine (Medicine in Drug Discovery, Dec 2020;8:100062). For more information on studies and planned topics visit their website at https://www.afar.org/tame-trial
Lifestyle Factors That May Delay Aging and Improve Quality of Life
• Be physically active and try to exercise every day. It is established that exercise helps to prevent and treat certain diseases that are associated with premature death. Several studies show that lifestyle factors help to prevent and treat several diseases:
• Eat a plant-based anti-inflammatory diet with lots of vegetables, fruits, whole unground grains, beans, seeds and nuts. Restrict mammal meat, processed meat, sugar-added foods and drinks, ultra-processed foods, and fried foods.
• Try to get 7-9 hours of sleep each night.
• Avoid smoke or living with smokers.
• Avoid or severely restrict alcohol.
• Avoid excess body fat, particularly in the belly.
• Keep blood levels of hydroxy vitamin D above 30 ng/mL.
• Avoid chronic exposure to excess sunlight.
• Avoid exposure to X-rays and other sources of radiation, and various toxic substances such as insecticides, herbicides and industrial chemicals.
• Treat chronic infections anywhere in the body.
My Recommendations
To live a longer life, try to follow all the rules for healthful living, and check with your doctor to see if metformin might be appropriate for you while we await the findings of the TAME Trial. There is evidence that controlling high blood sugar levels after meals may help to prolong lives and that metformin may help you to reach your goals. Up to 70 percent of North American adults will eventually develop high blood sugar levels after meals and 30 percent of diabetics don’t know they are diabetic because they may have normal fasting-blood sugar levels. You can suffer all the terrible side effects of diabetes if your blood sugar is greater than 145 mg/dL one hour after you eat a meal, even if your fasting-blood sugar is normal.
Metformin helps to control high blood-sugar levels, but at this time doctors have no solid proof that metformin also helps to prolong lives, so we will watch for the TAME Trial results. Again, their website is https://www.afar.org/tame-trial
