A blessing in disguise

Metformin is the most widely preferred choice of drug for the initial treatment of Type 2 Diabetes. Along with benefits of weight loss, no hypoglycemic (low sugar feeling) episodes, a new study showed that regular use of this drug may also help you look younger, live longer as reported the reputed medical journal, PNAS. The results of the study were based on experiments conducted on special species of roundworms (Caenorhabditis Elegans), which showed that worms treated with metformin not only aged slowly but also stayed healthier longer.

The possible mechanism behind this may be due to the fact that this drug led to an increase in the number of oxygen molecules which may improve the cells robustness and longevity. However, the findings of the present study should not be over-extrapolated to humans as it only provides a base for future research.