This article from Wired magazine takes a look at the recent research on drugs aimed at aging. I’m not advocating any sort of drug against aging yet, since we actually have some good preventatives already! Acupuncture for one, saunas for another and, of course, exercise. Also, remember to take L-Serine for brain health, and Astra Essence for immunity. You can look at my ebook on longevity here. A summary of the article follows.
Aging is the leading cause of death worldwide and the risk factor for most modern world diseases, such as cancer, heart disease, and dementia. The hallmarks of aging are damage to DNA, misbehaving proteins, and the accumulation of senescent cells in the body. Senolytics, a class of treatments that target senescent cells, have shown promise in slowing down and potentially reversing the aging process. In 2018, a study found that mice given a senolytic cocktail of dasatinib and quercetin lived longer and were at a lower risk for diseases like cancer and were less frail. There are various approaches under investigation, including small proteins that target senescent cells, vaccines to encourage the immune system to clear them out, and gene therapy. Some of these treatments, such as Proclara Biosciences’ protein GAIM and Verve Therapeutics’ gene therapy, are already in human trials. If these treatments are successful, it could revolutionize medicine and prevent people from getting ill in the first place rather than treating age-related problems in their late stages when they are difficult to fix.
