A new study has found that a high blood pressure drug slows aging in worms, an effect that could “hypothetically help” humans live longer and maintain good health in their later years.
The study showed that “rilmenidine” enabled small and large Caenorhabditis elegans worms to live longer, according to the study published in the journal ” Aging .”
Molecular biogerontologist João Pedro Magalhães, from the University of Birmingham in the UK, said: “For the first time we have been able to show that rilmenidine can increase lifespan.”
C. elegans is a favorite for studies because many of its genes have similarities to their counterparts in the human genome.
The study concluded that this high-blood pressure drug could confer the same benefits as a low-calorie diet.
What makes rilmenidine a promising candidate as an anti-aging drug is that it can be taken orally, is already widely prescribed by doctors, and its side effects are rare and relatively mild (including palpitations, insomnia, and drowsiness in a few cases).
The researchers said there was still a long way to go in knowing whether rilmenidine would work as an anti-aging drug for humans, but they were encouraged by early signs in worm tests.
Although the factors of aging are still not fully understood, experts divide them into two categories, internal and external aging.
Internal aging is due to genetic factors, while extrinsic aging can be attributed to lifestyle choices such as alcohol consumption, smoking, diet, exercise, and stress.
