Anti-ageing drug could let you live to 120 in good health

Sounds good - looked up metformin and found this under side effects:
Gastrointestinal

Very common (10% or more): Diarrhea (53.2%), nausea/vomiting (25.5%), flatulence (12.1%)
Common (1% to 10%): Indigestion, abdominal discomfort, abnormal stools, dyspepsia, loss of appetite[Ref]

So a bunch of really old farts looking for restrooms on the horizon?
 
For those of us counting on Social Security--it might be time to think of a Plan B.

Maybe when you sign up for Metformin, you'd have to agree to a push-back in your SS FRA.
 
From the article in the link:
Scientists think the best candidate for an anti-ageing drug is metformin, the world's most widely used diabetes drug which costs just 10 cents a day.​
From Wikipedia:
First made and found to reduce blood sugar in the 1920s, metformin was forgotten for the next two decades as research shifted to insulin and other antidiabetic drugs... It was introduced to the United Kingdom in 1958, Canada in 1972, and the United States in 1995. Metformin is now believed to be the most widely prescribed antidiabetic drug in the world; in the United States alone, more than 48 million prescriptions were filled in 2010 for its generic formulations.​
But what is this?
The most common adverse effect of metformin is gastrointestinal irritation, including diarrhea, cramps, nausea, vomiting, and increased flatulence; metformin is more commonly associated with gastrointestinal side effects than most other antidiabetic drugs.​

I guess being called an old fart is a small price to pay for longevity.
 
Well, it works on C Elegans, roundworms, so there's no reason to think it won't have identical effects in humans...

Metformin is already taken by millions of humans. You'd think someone would have noticed a few million healthy 120 year olds by now.


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M Paquette said:
Well, it works on C Elegans, roundworms, so there's no reason to think it won't have identical effects in humans...

Metformin is already taken by millions of humans. You'd think someone would have noticed a few million healthy 120 year olds by now.
Click to expand...

Now that they are no longer doing testing with chimps, will that make it more dangerous for early stage human testing?

Great, now i'm going to be expected to work until i'm 90+ to get SS benefits.
 
so move FRA to 110 .... will there be enough jobs to employ all the people long enough? Could the world support the extra people on the earth if every country extended life?
 
Interesting. Metformin has been used for decades and decades. It is already a wonder drug. Long history for knowing side effects.

In case people don't know it's used in people with pre-diabetes to improve insulin resistance as well as control blood sugar for diabetics.

I forgot - it has only been used in the U.S. For two decades.
 
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bingybear said:
will there be enough jobs to employ all the people long enough?
Click to expand...
Sure, there's no fixed number of jobs. More people=more demand for the goods and services that require workers. If, despite this, there is a surplus of labor then wages will go down a bit and more types of work become feasible at the lower labor costs.
 
samclem said:
For those of us counting on Social Security--it might be time to think of a Plan B.

Maybe when you sign up for Metformin, you'd have to agree to a push-back in your SS FRA.
Click to expand...
Plan C: stockpile this drug now for yourself, or better yet to sell on the black market later. Yes, you can have longevity and SS too.

Trouble is that if it really works and people try to cheat on their FRA, Congress will elevate this drug to Schedule 2, the same as cocaine and heroin, in order to protect SS. Dealing in this drug can land you in the slammer for 20 years, ruining your retirement life.

Plan D: Find a way to fake diabetes in order to get the drug. If it really works, some may not mind getting diabetes for real. Hello ice cream, soft drinks, candy bars...
 
Yea and if your erection lasts more than four hours be sure to contact your doctor.

I'm still waiting on that one along with those LSD flashbacks I was promised back in the sixties.

Call me skeptical and excuse me while I take my meds for IBS and RLS.
 
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They say the first person that will live to be 1000 years old has already been born!

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Early Retirement Forum mobile app
 
Just to put people's minds at ease, I've been taking Metformin for 10+ years and never had any significant digestive issues. Nothing even close to the effect of a good bowl of chili and a beer. My daughter, OTOH, got put on it as part of a fertility treatment and had horrible nausea. So, nevermind.

Having said that, I haven't noticed any slowing of aging either. Although now that I think of it, everybody I play guitar with has grey hair now. I don't have much hair, but it's still mostly all brown (although not the beard). And my most recent eye exam resulted in a less intense glasses prescription. Maybe it IS working.
 
SteveNU said:
They say the first person that will live to be 1000 years old has already been born!

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Early Retirement Forum mobile app
Click to expand...

Yes and every managed fund will outperform the indexes.

Call me skeptical.
 
So, what stocks will do well when Metformin (and it's kin--something that can be patented for a lot of money) hits the streets and everyone is taking it ?

Toilet paper? Imodium?
Go long on insurance companies (lower mortality= more premiums and profits) or do we short them (annuities start to look like a good investment for the buyers, a bad bet for the sellers).
Do we short funeral homes?

Socially: Do we delay the age of official adulthood a few more years (kids/ young "adults" seem to be doing this on their own--living at home longer, waiting longer to get a drivers license, waiting longer to get married and start their careers). If we are going to live longer, should our "childhood" remain the same length in years, or the same ratio of expected lifespan? Maybe, in an increasingly complex world, it just takes longer to know enough to function as an adult, and this extension of lifespan makes it possible to stay a "kid" longer.

"Till death do us part": as sensible when the term of the contract is likely to be 100 years as when it was 50?
 
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Yeah, those lucky diabetics are aging gracefully with metformin. I think I will watch from the sidelines.
 
If a new use is found will Metformin be placed back on patent and acquire a government protected ounce of gold new price tag?
 
If this works and we go on it my former employer is NOT going to like it. COLA'd DB pension y'know....:LOL:
 
NW-Bound said:
Trouble is that if it really works and people try to cheat on their FRA, Congress will elevate this drug to Schedule 2, the same as cocaine and heroin, in order to protect SS. Dealing in this drug can land you in the slammer for 20 years, ruining your retirement life.
Click to expand...
Or fund it. That's free room and board for 20 years. :tongue:
 
I just watched a NatGeo documentary on this and other research into anti-aging drugs. The program talked much more about better quality of life prior to the grim reaper than extremely long lives. Currently the FDA will authorize a drug to treat a particular disease but have never authorized a drug to treat a spectrum of diseases which is what anti aging drugs aim to do. i.e. Improve and extend life by delaying the onset of diseases such as diabetes, cancer, Alzheimer's etc.

If we get to the stage of much healthier lives prior to death instead of a steady decline in health then healthcare costs will actually go down. The program ended with the FDA approving clinical trials for metformin as an anti aging drug, as currently it cannot be used for anything other than diabetes.
 
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