Metformin the new miracle drug against cancer and aging? That’s what experts say

Many people are afraid of growing older. The drug metformin should make this a thing of the past. It is considered an agent that can delay or delay our aging process. What is this miracle pill about? Prof. Dr. Volker Limmroth, chief physician at the Clinic for Neurology and Palliative Medicine in Cologne-Merheim, and neurophysiologist Dr. Gerd Wirtz clarifies.

Metformin has been around since the late 1960s and was originally developed as a diabetes medication (diabetes mellitus type 2). It lowers blood sugar levels and inhibits the production of new glucose in the liver. Not only does less sugar produced by the body reach the blood, but the release of insulin is also inhibited. This slows down cell growth and thus the development of tumors that could potentially cause cancer.

The effect of metformin on cell growth was discovered by chance. As part of a joint study between the University of California and Stanford University, the central organ of the immune system, the so-called thymus, was examined. It is very active until the age of 20 to 25 years and sorts out bad immune cells.

The ten male subjects aged 52 to 65 who took part in the study were given five different hormones, vitamins and medications, including metformin, for one year. It turned out that the active part of the thymus had increased again in size at the end of the study period. In addition, other factors were positively changed that improved the organism’s resistance to cancer. The subjects also reported feeling more energetic and having less gray hair.

Given these surprising results, further research into metformin is currently underway to find out if it really is the miracle cure we were hoping for. Researchers in the US are currently following 3,000 people aged 65 to 79 for six years – funded by private funding totaling $75 million – and monitoring their physical changes as a result of metformin.

While metformin is already a lifestyle drug in the US and used by many people there to lose weight, in Europe it is (still) available by prescription, so you can only get it after a thorough medical examination. In general, people with kidney failure, heart or liver disease should avoid its use.

If you do not want to take the miracle pill (yet) and instead want to rely on natural methods to keep your body healthy, you can rely on well-known measures:

Anyone who follows these methods will lay a good foundation for staying healthy in old age. And all without new ‘miracle cures’.