Metformin
Health Benefits
Health conditions that Metformin may influence, based on research.
Protects Against
- Parkinson's disease
Metformin, the diabetes drug that may be a complex I inhibitor, was found to stop neurodegeneration in a worm Parkinson's model by reducing mitochondrial activity and ROS. Whether metformin could be a viable treatment for some types of Parkinson's is not yet known.
Source: How We Age
Biological Mechanisms
How Metformin works at a cellular level.
- PromotesAutophagy
Several drugs increase autophagy (e.g., metformin, rapamycin, urolithin A) and improve health in model systems.
- PromotesAntioxidant Defense
Metformin treatment reduced mitochondrial activity and decreased ROS in a worm model of Parkinson's-like symptoms caused by bcat-1 knockdown.
- PromotesAMPK activation
Metformin activates AMPK but carries adverse side effects and may not benefit healthy individuals. Impairs mitochondrial function.
Sources
- How We Age
- How Not to Age