Seen At 11: New Pill May Hold Key To Longer, Healthier Life

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork)-- The secret to living a long and healthy life may finally be at hand. And the answer could lie not in diet and exercise, but in a pill.

Old age might catch up with you, but at 95, Ernie Fleischman does pretty well.  Fleischman works three days a week in an Upper West Side butcher shop. He said he has fun working and it's a good way to stay active.

Mark Nowogrodzki, a 95-year-old author, is another individual enjoying a long life. Nowogrodzki says he misses his rock-climbing days, but he he enjoys his new hobby as a writer and is working on his second book.

"I'm writing what I call songs of old age for my grandchildren," she said.

Agnes Zhelesnik, a 102-year-old teacher, still teaches cooking to school children three days a week. Even at 102, Zhelesnik says she feels more like 95.

Doctors say seniors like these likely have the genes that allow for long and healthy lives.

But according to Dr. Nir Barzilai, an aging researcher at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, a new breakthrough pill might also hold the key to living long and living well.

"Metformin is a drug that has been used for 60 years to treat diabetes," Barzilai told CBS2's Maurice DuBois. "We have actually preliminary data to show you that Metformin in diabetic patients prevents heart disease, and prevents cancer and probably prevents Alzheimer's by 30 percent. All of those."

The study is called "Tame: Taming Aging with Metformin" Dr. Barzilai's hopes the drug has the potential to delay the diseases that so often plague seniors.

"What we're trying to do is change it so that as they age, they're healthy," he explained.

More than 3,000 seniors like Nowogrodzki have applied to be a part of the study. There is no shortage of interest from alert elders.

"If we're successful with Metformin, other and better drugs are on the way," Barzilai said.

The centenarians CBS2 spoke to say they have slowed, but they add they're still busy, and have no intention of going anywhere.

"I think our capacity is somewhere between 100 and 120 years because the oldest person in the world died when she was 122," Barzilai said.

To live long, diet and exercise are still the most important, and genetics play a major role. But experts said the possibility of taking a pill to live longer is something that many of us may see in our lifetime.