hi maybe because english is not my mother tongue I was not able to be clear enough.
1/metformin is in general a very safe drug and I am certain it would be effective.The 50%fatality is in case the patient develops lactic acidosis, but the risk of lactic acidosis is really really low,(although in patients that are over 70 it is higher)
2/the problem here is that I do believe that in order to really have a benefict in an adult with a normal body weight the dose needs to be in a dose not less than 1200 mg.In my post I said it can be dangerous at the dose necesary to affect aging disease.Ar the dose of 400mg I think is much less dangerous but I dont think it is efective neither.
3/ It is not an exageration of risk (
the problem is that this are not sick people), the risk are low indeed but the problem is that you are seeing aging as an illness,but the current law doesnt agree with your view(I have the same view as you) the problem is not that I believe that in the long run metformin won´t safe more lives than kill them, the problem is that as it is right now the law, even if only 3 patients die of lactic acidosis out of 1000000 in a study, this are HEALTHY SUBJECTS so in the view of the law (as it is established now)this doctors would had killed this patients prescribing them drugs that they dont (legaly)need,(aging by law nowday is not an illness) the legal implication for this doctors can be terrible.And the family of this 3 death will be full of hate and in disposition of sueing this doctors.You guys have to understand that as they are healthy subjects they are seen in legal terms as inmortals, so the fact that metformin prevents cancer in most of them or early death has no weight in legal implications, as this patients are healthy.The law will only see 3 were killed.(And that others lost quality of life)
4/I believe metformin is actually a "poison" ,i use the word poison to explain this in a simple way, metformin works as a caloric restrictor mimetic, but in a tricky way, it is a mitochondrial uncompeling drug ,(as parraquat or 2-deoxy-D-glucose(that also inhibits glucogenesis, it actually is a "poison" the way it works is by preventing the production of ATP so then the cell sense the thread and induce defense mechanism that in the long run because
of hormesis increase longevity, but it has been tested in animals lacking AMPK, that if AMPK is not activated then the metformin longevity beneficts are not only not existant but decrimental, they die sooner, they perform physical tast worst......metformin lets not forget it is a very mild "poison".This is also the reason it inhibits Mtor, when an organism is threaten by the enviroment it focus in surviving and not in growing(this is also the reason metformin delay the progresion of puberty in humans).
So to give a "poison" to patients that are otherwise healthy is a very complex subjetc, in moral terms.
I also believe that in order to really affect the aging progress one has to take the same dose that is necesary for diabetic patients, I dont belive 400mg is enough for any real effect, the reason is because at this dose the mitochondrial uncoupleing is not enought to induce a subtantial celular defense hormetic mechanism .So I think if this human study is well design the dose should have to be 1000 to 2250 mg(depending of body weight and so on) not less.And at this dose and in patients that are 70.....and healthy....
s123(I think in your case well your body weight is very low to begin with and you are very young so the dose you are taking may be still ok,at least to help you keep this low body weight(you are technicaly doing caloric restriction)
Edited by james41, 14 December 2010 - 06:45 PM.