Life Extension Magazine®

Chemical structure of metformin being approved by FDA

Anti-Aging Human Study on Metformin Wins FDA Approval

Metformin is believed to enhance cell enzymes that mimic the longevity benefits of calorie restriction. Life Extension® has championed its use for 20 years. The FDA has finally approved a human trial that may prove metformin inhibits aging and age-related diseases.

Scientifically reviewed by: Dr. Shaylind Benson, ND, in October 2024. Written by: Judy Stevens.

News Reports around World Describe Multiple Benefits

The media has caught up to the potential health benefits of metformin, something our long-term supporters discovered long ago.

What caught the media’s attention was the FDA’s approval of the first human study to see if metformin can protect against the multiple diseases of aging.

What you need to know

For the first time ever, a clinical trial is now underway to see if a drug can slow down aging. Metformin has been garnering a reputation for a long time, and now the mainstream media have joined the fray. Research shows that metformin can not only increase life expectancy, but also mimic the benefits of calorie restriction and exercise through activation of AMPK. Life Extension has been suggesting metformin to its readers since 1995, but now the FDA concurs that metformin has potential to delay the onset of degenerative diseases. This trial could, however, take years to finish. There are other methods to boosting AMPK to take advantage of the longevity benefits. In this article, learn more about metformin and the first-ever clinical trial on aging.

Prominent headlines around the world proclaimed:

“New Anti-Aging Drug Could Extend Human Life Span to 120 Years”

Metformin of course is not a new drug. It was approved in England in 1957 and made available to type II diabetics around the world shortly thereafter. It took the FDA a staggering 37 years to approve it in the United States.

Here are some accurate quotes from worldwide news sources:

News Reports around World Describe Multiple Benefits  

“Although it might seem like science fiction, researchers have already proven that the diabetes drug metformin extends the life of animals, and the Food and Drug Administration in the US has now given the go-ahead for a trial to see if the same effects can be replicated in humans.”

I have been doing research into aging for 25 years and the idea that we would be talking about a clinical trial in humans for an anti-aging drug would have been thought inconceivable…20 years ago aging was a biological mystery. Now we are starting to understand what is going on.”

“Scientists think the best candidate for an anti-aging drug is metformin, the world’s most widely used diabetes drug, which costs just 10p [15 cents] a day. Metformin increases the number of oxygen molecules released into a cell, which appears to boost robustness and longevity.”

If we can slow aging in humans, even by just a little bit, it would be monumental. People could be older, and feel young.”

This would be the most important medical intervention in the modern era, an ability to slow aging.”

Even the venerable Dr. Robert Temple, deputy director at the FDA, chimed in by stating:

Their hope is that a wide variety of age-related problems, loss of muscle tone, dizziness, falls, dementia, loss of eyesight, all of those things [sic]. That would be something never done before. If you really are doing something to alter aging, the population of interest is everybody. It surely would be revolutionary if they can bring it off.”

Dr. Simon Melov of the Buck Institute for Research on Aging added:

You’re talking about developing a therapy for a biological phenomenon which is universal and gives rise to all of these diseases. And if you’ve got a therapy for this thing, these diseases just go away.”

Life Extension® Has Championed Metformin for 20 Years

Life Extension® magazine listed metformin as one of many important offshore medications back in 1995. And now, 20 years later, even the FDA concurs that metformin has potential to delay the onset of degenerative diseases.

But contrary to news headlines, metformin will not enable humans to live to 120 years of age all by itself. What it may do is allow humans to age better today—thereby staving off degenerative diseases long enough for age-reversal breakthroughs to become clinically available.

Metformin’s Primary Anti-Aging Mechanism

Metformin enhances the activity of an enzyme found within our cells called adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase—or AMPK for short. AMPK activation helps mimic the beneficial effects of calorie restriction, the best documented method of slowing and reversing biomarkers of human aging.

We at Life Extension® have long endorsed AMPK activation as a method of slowing biological aging. We advocate that our supporters utilize some proven method to increase their cellular AMPK activity, which could add substantial healthy years to the average life span.

How to Boost Your AMPK Today!

How to Boost Your AMPK Today!  

We do not want you to age prematurely, waiting years for the results of the new FDA-approved human study. That’s why we recommend you initiate steps now to boost healthy AMPK activity today.

One of the benefits of practicing consistent calorie restriction is a substantial increase in AMPK activity as cells go into a semi-starvation mode and increase their survival efficiency.

People under age 60 who regularly/vigorously exercise boost their AMPK levels. This may be the mechanism by which exercise markedly lowers cancer risk. As people age past 60, exercise may not adequately boost AMPK enzyme activity.

If you’re presently taking 1,000 to 2,550 mg of metformin daily, you don’t have to do anything, simply enjoy this drug’s anti-aging benefits. But if you cannot acquire a prescription for metformin, or cannot tolerate it due to digestive issues, there are nutrient formulas that have been shown to significantly boost AMPK activity.

On the next page is a reprint of one of many articles appearing around the world that report on the first clinical trial to see if a drug can slow aging and enable people to live longer.

While the headline of this (and many other articles) is exaggerated, the quotes from mainstream researchers accurately reflect what metformin might demonstrate in this first clinical study.

We at Life Extension® will stay abreast of this study to ascertain how close its design and implementation come to our long-standing recommendations on the use of this AMPK-activating medication.

If you have any questions on the scientific content of this article, please call a Life Extension® Wellness Specialist at 1-866-864-3027.

Editor's Note

Science continues to evolve, and new research is published daily. As such, we have a more recent article on this topic: Turn on Your Body’s “Youth Switch”

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

World’s First Anti-Ageing Drug Could See Humans Live to 120

World’s First Anti-Ageing Drug Could See Humans Live to 120