Birth Defects Linked to Diabetes Drug Popular with Biohackers
Channel: Lifespan News
Date: 2022-04-03

The common diabetes drug metformin is also used within the life extension community, where some people choose to take it for its perceived longevity benefits. However, it may be worth reconsidering that. A large-cohort population study from Denmark has linked metformin to a 40% increase in the risk of birth defects when taken by fathers within three months of conception.

Metformin is an anti-diabetes drug that drew geroscientists' attention after studies had shown that it reduces all-cause mortality and alleviates diseases of aging. One crucial study even found that diabetic patients who took metformin had a lower risk of all-cause mortality than healthy people who were not on metformin. 

Another study showed that metformin extends life in mice, but then metformin didn’t do so well in the ITP, or Intervention Testing Program trials, although it was shown to enhance the life-prolonging effect of rapamycin.

The drug is currently the subject of TAME, Targeting Aging with Metformin, the first large-scale human trial of a potentially life-extending drug.

But the results of this new study may make some people think twice about taking it. Metformin-exposed children were 40% more likely to have birth defects. If the father stopped taking metformin one year or more prior to conception, the drug had no effect on birth defects.

The researchers did attempt to account for confounding variables in the study. On the other hand, the researchers had no access to other potentially relevant parameters such as diet or obesity status.

Despite this, the evidence is hard to ignore. The study says that genital defects that appeared solely in boys constituted a disproportionate amount of birth defects in metformin-exposed children. However, unexposed siblings of exposed offspring did not have an increased risk of birth defects. Insulin showed no correlation with birth defects, and while sulfonylurea did show some correlation, the results were not statistically significant.

It is worth noting that, overall, metformin has a great safety record and has been included in the World Health Organization’s list of essential medicines. However, metformin was also recently categorized as a “known or suspected endocrine disrupting contaminant of emerging concern” in another study that was focused on chemical contamination of the surface and groundwater - quite different from what we’re focusing on here, but something to be aware of.

This study does not establish a causal relationship, and ultimately, more studies are needed - and we’ll be watching closely for those results.

SOURCES AND FURTHER READING
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Preconception Antidiabetic Drugs in Men and Birth Defects in Offspring : A Nationwide Cohort Study - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35344380/

What is Metformin? A Summary of N,N-dimethylbiguanide https://www.lifespan.io/news/a-summary-of-metformin/

Metformin in Fathers Linked to Birth Defects - https://www.lifespan.io/news/metformin-in-fathers-linked-to-birth-defects/

Metformin reduces all-cause mortality and diseases of ageing independent of its effect on diabetes control - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28802803/

Can people with type 2 diabetes live longer than those without? - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25041462/

Longer lifespan in male mice treated with a weakly estrogenic agonist, an antioxidant, an α-glucosidase inhibitor or a Nrf2-inducer - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27312235/

Metformin improves healthspan and lifespan in mice - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23900241/

Detection of endocrine disrupting chemicals in Danio rerio and Daphnia pulex - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33476875/

Nir Barzilai Interview - https://www.lifespan.io/news/dr-nir-barzilai-we-can-live-healthier-for-longer/

WHO Essential Medicines - https://list.essentialmeds.org/medicines/191

https://www.afar.org/tame-trial
https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/28/health/paternal-metformin-use-birth-defects/index.html

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