
Metformin inhibits mitochondrial adaptations to aerobic exercise training - evo_9
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6351883/
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ve55
Context: Metformin is a simple, very safe, and very common diabetic drug that
appears to improve all-cause mortality and have some positive health effects
in the average person, even if minor (such as improving blood glucose levels
and insulin resistance), thereby slightly lengthening human lifespan and
improving the process of aging. For this reason it has been touted as an anti-
aging drug by many, and is taken by many non-diabetics for this purpose.

However, there have been more studies surfacing recently that show that it can
make exercise less beneficial, of which the link in OP is a piece of evidence
in favor of this.

For those interested in other interesting substances in this area, I suggest
looking into Acarbose and Rapamycin, but there's many others that seem pretty
cool, even if highly speculative. Also adding after reading a child comment to
this, Peter Attia is one of the many great people worth following in this
area, with a very high-quality information-dense podcast.

~~~
nikolay
Good for me as I don't exercise. I'm not sure why people believe that exercise
is beneficial for life span - it is as much beneficial as it is detrimental. I
see those people jogging for "health" right next to car exhausts and I keep
scratching my head. If you look at the longest lifespans, you won't see any
athletes at the top. In fact, you will see a lot of scientists who mostly live
sedentary lives, but most of them do walk regularly, that's a fact, although
not really an exercise. Aerobic exercise is the single biggest source of ROS',
which is part of its benefit - it can kill pathogens, it can occasionally have
a hormetic effect. Outside of sex, I don't see a any proof that jogging will
make me live a longer, happier life (especially when you subtract the time
spent jogging). Most of the benefits of exercise can be accomplished via diet
and lifestyle changes. Maybe some flexibility exercises like callanetics are
worth the effort though, which can be accomplish with simple yoga.

~~~
toomuchtodo
> Outside of sex, I don't see a any proof that jogging will make me live a
> longer, happier life (especially when you subtract the time spent jogging).

Still a valid use case for cardio training IMHO.

~~~
nikolay
Yeah, but at least it's real fun, unlike jogging. :D

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hombre_fatal
I have a friend who is obsessed with min-maxing the supplements he eats
including Metformin.

What's wild to me is that he doesn't even exercise. It's like we're so
bored/tired of the concept of exercise that even people seemingly obsessed
with various health subtopics will glance past it.

Meanwhile, I bet adding an extra run to your week does 1000x more than
Metformin will ever do. A lot of this stuff seems like obsessing over the
shape of your car's exhaust pipe for performance when you don't even change
the oil.

I wonder how many HNers who take it are the same
[https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&qu...](https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&query=metformin&sort=byPopularity&type=comment).

Edit: On second read this seems like a harsh, debbie-downer comment. I
certainly hope a drug like Metformin is a magic pill you can take
independently of the rest of your habits. It's just that this news is a
reminder that we can't yet have things for free in pill form. At the same
time, we have this constant aversion to the few things that we do know work,
today.

~~~
nikolay
Really? What is that run going to do for your lifespan?

~~~
kriskrunch
First example that pops into my mind to address your question:

Running builds muscle and improves balance (among other things). Many people
late in life die from head injuries caused by falls. I have a better chance of
living longer and healthier with a stronger body.

I'm primarily concerned with healthspan over lifespan.

Goal to be sharp and as healthful as Jack Lalanne at 95:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkdYrAQJu6g](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkdYrAQJu6g)

Yeah, I know he died a year later from pneumonia. He mentions his ego in the
video as well.

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fallingfrog
I really think that any effective anti aging therapy is going be something
that is specific to, or based on information from, the specific patient.
Here’s my logic: if there was some molecule or hormonal tweak that would
defeat aging in every individual that was given it, then the improvement would
be heritable. And some organism at some point in earths evolutionary history
would have found it by now, which means we would know about it. So, there
likely is none.

So, if there is an anti aging therapy of some kind, it must be something that
is not a simple heritable molecule to be synthesized. That means some kind of
genetic or stem cell therapy.

I’m not a biologist though so ymmv.

Edit: on that note: [https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2020/03/old-human-
cel...](https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2020/03/old-human-cells-
rejuvenated-with-stem-cell-technology.html)

~~~
new_realist
Genes for living longer reproduce in a population only if they enhance
fertility rates, but I suspect throughout history humans have been food
constrained, and so there was never an opportunity for an older couple to have
another baby when the younger couples were “maxed out” with babies already.
Given food scarcity, living longer only means the clan needs more food, which
hurts the clan’s overall fertility.

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untilHellbanned
In general, you don't want to take anything if you can.

Drugs usually inhibit biological processes. Metformin inhibits mitochondria.
This can be good for diabetes and good for aging, but it depends. Hopefully
your doctor understands when to prescribe it.

~~~
ve55
With that said however, the average American diet is generally messed up
enough that a lot of substances could benefit them, because there's so many
existing problems that have room for improvement which are created by bad
diet.

With a perfect diet, the amount of drugs you may want to take would definitely
go down, perhaps even to zero.

~~~
derefr
Given that we’re talking about longevity extension here, that “perfect diet”
would have to be perfect indeed, to make you immortal.

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magwa101
Endless. Eat well, cut carbs, fast now and then, exercise AF. The rest is a
prayer.

