Scientists from the University of California San Diego and Heidelberg University analyzed long-term monitoring data for menopausal women in the US.
A total of 438 women with type 2 diabetes were included in the study. Half used metformin for treatment, while the remaining group used sulfonylurea.
The results showed that the group using metformin had a risk of death before age 90 about 30% lower than the group using sulfonylurea.
According to researchers, metformin has long been noticed for its ability to affect many mechanisms related to biological aging.
Some previous studies have noted that this drug can help limit DNA damage, support the activity of life-related genes, and can slow down brain function decline. Previously, metformin was also studied for its ability to reduce the risk of prolonged COVID.
However, scientists emphasize that the current research cannot confirm that metformin directly helps prolong life. The reason is that the research is observational, not randomized clinical trials with controls - an important criterion for determining causal relationships.
The research group also noted that the results are currently limited to menopausal women over 60 years old with type 2 diabetes, so they cannot be applied to men or younger population groups. However, a monitoring period of up to 14-15 years is considered a noteworthy point of this study.
Scientists believe that as the global population ages, studies related to the biological aging process and prolonging healthy life will continue to be of interest in the coming time.
