The Blood Pressure Medication That Could Increase People's Lifespans

Some medications provide unexpected health benefits beyond their intended usage. Aspirin, for example, was developed for pain relief and reducing fevers, but small daily doses can also reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. Then there's metformin, a type-2 diabetes drug that's been shown to reduce age-related diseases like cancer. Now, researchers have discovered a new potential "wonder drug," one which may increase lifespans: rilmenidine.

Rilmenidine, also known by its brand name Hyperium, is a medication prescribed in many parts of the world to help people manage their blood pressure. At least, that's what the drug was designed to do. A 2023 study published in Aging Cell demonstrates how rilmenidine can slow down aging in non-human animals. Worms that were given the drug lived longer compared to the control group, and they even scored higher on several health tests for longevity. Mice, too, had a promising response. Those given rilmenidine showed healthier gene activity in their tissues.

The study comes from an emerging body of science that explores how caloric restriction, or intermittent fasting, can slow aging and increase lifespans. Gerontologists, the scientists that study aging, look for cellular markers that indicate the rate of an individual's "biological clock." Such cellular markers give scientists an idea of the rate at which an individual is aging. Curiously, taking rilmenidine results in the same markers as caloric restriction, meaning rilmenidine mimics the anti-aging effects of intermittent fasting. Now, scientists have proven that rilmenidine, like caloric restriction, can increase life spans — at least in worms and mice.

We know caloric restriction can increase lifespans, and we know rilmenidine mimics the effects of caloric restriction in humans. The next question is whether or not rilmenidine can increase the lifespan of humans. And now, thanks to the 2023 study from a team of European biogerontologists, we now know that rilmenidine increases the lifespans of worms. But worms are not humans.

The worms used in the study were C. elegans, a species that has been described as a "star" test subject among biologists. Scientists often use C. elegans to investigate the effects of drugs on animal DNA before they move on to human trials, since it reproduces quickly and its genome has many parallels with our own. It's therefore the ideal first step in the drug trial pipeline. Generally speaking, drug trials often start with C. elegans before moving on to rodents. Only after extensive research and multiple animal trials are drugs tested on human subjects.

Still, the results are promising. While we might be a long way off before doctors start prescribing rilmenidine to extend people's lifespans, the value of such a "miracle drug" makes it worth investigating. Caloric restriction, or intermittent fasting, is difficult to follow normally without suffering from side effects like vitamin deficiencies and lightheadedness. Furthermore, many people already use rilmenidine to control their blood pressure, though it hasn't been approved for use in the United States. Those that do take rilmenidine may already be benefitting from the medication's lifespan-extending effects, but further tests are needed to determine whether it's a safe alternative to intermittent fasting. If it is, rilmenidine might be the key to a long life in the future.