US researchers believe anti-ageing pill may be a reality soon

Metformin, a drug already used for diabetes can also help people live a longer and healthier life. It is known to prolong life in animals.

Last year researchers at Cardiff University reported that patients with type-2 diabetes, who took metformin, on an average lived more than 15% longer than a group of comparable healthy people.

Nir Barzilai, director of the Institute for Ageing Research at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, wants to take the research a step further by testing if the drug can prolong lives of 3,000 people who are not diabetic.

"Evidence from animal models and in vitro studies suggests that metformin changes metabolic and cellular processes associated with age-related conditions," Barzilai said. He and his colleagues are in talks with the US Food and Drug Administration about the proposed trial.

The researchers also have to persuade the agency to recognise ageing as a disease that can be treated, rather than just a natural unstoppable process. The cost of the trial is estimated at 30 million pounds.

It will enrol 3,000 patients, all aged 70-80, at 15 separate centres and then follow them for seven years to see how those taking the pill are compared with a control group.

"The time has come to initiate clinical trials with the ultimate goal of increasing the health span (and perhaps longevity) of human populations," Barzilai said.