Category Archives: Anti-Aging Medicine

Anti-aging medicine is the pinnacle of biotechnology joined with advanced clinical preventive medicine. The specialty is founded on the application of advanced scientific and medical technologies for the early detection, prevention, treatment, and reversal of age-related dysfunction, disorders, and diseases. It is a healthcare model promoting innovative science and research to prolong the healthy lifespan in humans. As such, anti-aging medicine is based on principles of sound and responsible medical care that are consistent with those applied in other preventive health specialties. The anti-aging medical model aims to both extend lifespan as well as prolong healthspan the length of time that we are able to live productively and independently.

Anti-aging medicine is the following:

Hundreds of scientific research studies clearly prove that modest interventions in diet, exercise, nutrition and single-gene modulation in the laboratory setting beneficially and significantly impact healthy function in old-age. Many of these interventions also modify maximum lifespan by 20 to 800% as well. With over the near-daily advancements in biomedical technologies related to research specifically focused on elucidating treatments for aging-related disorders and modulating the metabolic dysfunctions associated with old age, in the imminent near-future, effective interventions will become widely available to modulate the aging process itself in humans.

Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health have found that the anti-aging lifestyle can add 24.6 more years of productive lifespan. The research team found that the longest-living Americans are Asian-American women residing in Bergen County, New Jersey USA. They live longer than any other ethnic group in the United States to an average lifespan of 91.1 years. In contrast, the Harvard team found that the shortest-living Americans are Native American populations in South Dakota, despite receiving free or low-cost government provided medical care living an average lifespan of 66.5 years. A distinguishing characteristic of the Bergen County womens longevity is that they are availing themselves of the armament of state-of-the-art biomedical technologies in advanced preventive care, including preventive screenings, early disease detection, aggressive intervention, and optimal nutrition all of which are cornerstones of the anti-aging medical model. [Bergen County, NJ is long in longevity, New York Times, September 12, 2006; Asian women in Bergen have nations top life expectancy, Free Republic, September 12, 2006.]

A first-ever study reveals the secrets of exceptional health in old age. Mark Kaplan, from Portland State University (Oregon, USA), and colleagues utilized the Health Utilities Index Mark 3 (HUI3), a multidimensional measure of health status, to examine the maintenance of exceptionally good health among 2,432 elder Canadians enrolled in the Canadian National Population Health Survey, which tracked participants health for a ten-year period, 1994 to 2004. The researchers found that the most important predictors of excellent health over the entire decade were:

The team comments that: Many of these factors can be modified when you are young or middle-aged. While these findings may seem like common sense, now we have evidence of which factors contribute to exceptional health [as we age]. [Kaplan MS, Huguet N, Orpana H, Feeny D, McFarland BH, Ross N. Prevalence and factors associated with thriving in older adulthood: a 10-year population-based study. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2008 Oct;63(10):1097-104.]

Around the world, people are seeking medical guidance for ways to stay healthy, active, and vital well into their older years. As a result, the principles of the anti-aging lifestyle are gaining rapid and widespread acceptance as a framework for lifelong habits for healthy living.

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What is Anti-Aging Medicine? | Worldhealth.net Anti-Aging News

Life extension science, also known as anti-aging medicine, indefinite life extension, experimental gerontology, and biomedical gerontology, is the study of slowing down or reversing the processes of aging to extend both the maximum and average lifespan. Some researchers in this area, and "life extensionists", "immortalists" or "longevists" (those who wish to achieve longer lives themselves), believe that future breakthroughs in tissue rejuvenation, stem cells, regenerative medicine, molecular repair, gene therapy, pharmaceuticals, and organ replacement (such as with artificial organs or xenotransplantations) will eventually enable humans to have indefinite lifespans (agerasia[1]) through complete rejuvenation to a healthy youthful condition.

The sale of purported anti-aging products such as nutrition, physical fitness, skin care, hormone replacements, vitamins, supplements and herbs is a lucrative global industry, with the US market generating about $50billion of revenue each year.[2] Some medical experts state that the use of such products has not been proven to affect the aging process and many claims regarding the efficacy of these marketed products have been roundly criticized by medical experts, including the American Medical Association.[2][3][4][5][6]

The ethical ramifications of life extension are debated by bioethicists.

During the process of aging, an organism accumulates damage to its macromolecules, cells, tissues, and organs. Specifically, aging is characterized as and thought to be caused by "genomic instability, telomere attrition, epigenetic alterations, loss of proteostasis, deregulated nutrient sensing, mitochondrial dysfunction, cellular senescence, stem cell exhaustion, and altered intercellular communication."[7]Oxidation damage to cellular contents caused by free radicals is believed to contribute to aging as well.[8][8][9]

The longest a human has ever been proven to live is 122 years, the case of Jeanne Calment who was born in 1875 and died in 1997, whereas the maximum lifespan of a wildtype mouse, commonly used as a model in research on aging, is about three years.[10] Genetic differences between humans and mice that may account for these different aging rates include differences in efficiency of DNA repair, antioxidant defenses, energy metabolism, proteostasis maintenance, and recycling mechanisms such as autophagy.[11]

Average lifespan in a population is lowered by infant and child mortality, which are frequently linked to infectious diseases or nutrition problems. Later in life, vulnerability to accidents and age-related chronic disease such as cancer or cardiovascular disease play an increasing role in mortality. Extension of expected lifespan can often be achieved by access to improved medical care, vaccinations, good diet, exercise and avoidance of hazards such as smoking.

Maximum lifespan is determined by the rate of aging for a species inherent in its genes and by environmental factors. Widely recognized methods of extending maximum lifespan in model organisms such as nematodes, fruit flies, and mice include caloric restriction, gene manipulation, and administration of pharmaceuticals.[12] Another technique uses evolutionary pressures such as breeding from only older members or altering levels of extrinsic mortality.[13][14] Some animals such as hydra, planarian flatworms, and certain sponges, corals, and jellyfish do not die of old age and exhibit potential immortality.[15][16][17][18]

Theoretically, extension of maximum lifespan in humans could be achieved by reducing the rate of aging damage by periodic replacement of damaged tissues, molecular repair or rejuvenation of deteriorated cells and tissues, reversal of harmful epigenetic changes, or the enhancement of telomerase enzyme activity.[19][20]

Research geared towards life extension strategies in various organisms is currently under way at a number of academic and private institutions. Since 2009, investigators have found ways to increase the lifespan of nematode worms and yeast by 10-fold; the record in nematodes was achieved through genetic engineering and the extension in yeast by a combination of genetic engineering and caloric restriction.[21] A 2009 review of longevity research noted: "Extrapolation from worms to mammals is risky at best, and it cannot be assumed that interventions will result in comparable life extension factors. Longevity gains from dietary restriction, or from mutations studied previously, yield smaller benefits to Drosophila than to nematodes, and smaller still to mammals. This is not unexpected, since mammals have evolved to live many times the worm's lifespan, and humans live nearly twice as long as the next longest-lived primate. From an evolutionary perspective, mammals and their ancestors have already undergone several hundred million years of natural selection favoring traits that could directly or indirectly favor increased longevity, and may thus have already settled on gene sequences that promote lifespan. Moreover, the very notion of a "life-extension factor" that could apply across taxa presumes a linear response rarely seen in biology."[21]

Much life extension research focuses on nutritiondiets or supplementsas a means to extend lifespan, although few of these have been systematically tested for significant longevity effects. The many diets promoted by anti-aging advocates are often contradictory.[original research?] A dietary pattern with some support from scientific research is caloric restriction.[22][23]

Preliminary studies of caloric restriction on humans using surrogate measurements have provided evidence that caloric restriction may have powerful protective effect against secondary aging in humans. Caloric restriction in humans may reduce the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes and atherosclerosis.[24]

The free-radical theory of aging suggests that antioxidant supplements, such as vitaminC, vitaminE, Q10, lipoic acid, carnosine, and N-acetylcysteine, might extend human life. However, combined evidence from several clinical trials suggest that -carotene supplements and high doses of vitaminE increase mortality rates.[25]Resveratrol is a sirtuin stimulant that has been shown to extend life in animal models, but the effect of resveratrol on lifespan in humans is unclear as of 2011.[26]

There are many traditional herbs purportedly used to extend the health-span, including a Chinese tea called Jiaogulan (Gynostemma pentaphyllum), dubbed "China's Immortality Herb."[27]Ayurveda, the traditional Indian system of medicine, describes a class of longevity herbs called rasayanas, including Bacopa monnieri, Ocimum sanctum, Curcuma longa, Centella asiatica, Phyllanthus emblica, Withania somnifera and many others.[27]

The anti-aging industry offers several hormone therapies. Some of these have been criticized for possible dangers to the patient and a lack of proven effect. For example, the American Medical Association has been critical of some anti-aging hormone therapies.[2]

Although some recent clinical studies have shown that low-dose growth hormone (GH) treatment for adults with GH deficiency changes the body composition by increasing muscle mass, decreasing fat mass, increasing bone density and muscle strength, improves cardiovascular parameters (i.e. decrease of LDL cholesterol), and affects the quality of life without significant side effects,[28][29][30] the evidence for use of growth hormone as an anti-aging therapy is mixed and based on animal studies. There are mixed reports that GH or IGF-1 signaling modulates the aging process in humans and about whether the direction of its effect is positive or negative.[31]

Some critics dispute the portrayal of aging as a disease. For example, Leonard Hayflick, who determined that fibroblasts are limited to around 50cell divisions, reasons that aging is an unavoidable consequence of entropy. Hayflick and fellow biogerontologists Jay Olshansky and Bruce Carnes have strongly criticized the anti-aging industry in response to what they see as unscrupulous profiteering from the sale of unproven anti-aging supplements.[4]

Politics relevant to the substances of life extension pertain mostly to communications and availability.[citation needed]

In the United States, product claims on food and drug labels are strictly regulated. The First Amendment (freedom of speech) protects third-party publishers' rights to distribute fact, opinion and speculation on life extension practices. Manufacturers and suppliers also provide informational publications, but because they market the substances, they are subject to monitoring and enforcement by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which polices claims by marketers. What constitutes the difference between truthful and false claims is hotly debated and is a central controversy in this arena.[citation needed]

Research by Sobh and Martin (2011) suggests that people buy anti-aging products to obtain a hoped-for self (e.g., keeping a youthful skin) or to avoid a feared-self (e.g., looking old). The research shows that when consumers pursue a hoped-for self, it is expectations of success that most strongly drive their motivation to use the product. The research also shows why doing badly when trying to avoid a feared self is more motivating than doing well. Interestingly, when product use is seen to fail it is more motivating than success when consumers seek to avoid a feared-self.[32]

The best-characterized anti-aging therapy was, and still is, CR. In some studies calorie restriction has been shown to extend the life of mice, yeast, and rhesus monkeys significantly.[33][34] However, a more recent study has shown that in contrast, calorie restriction has not improved the survival rate in rhesus monkeys.[35] Long-term human trials of CR are now being done. It is the hope of the anti-aging researchers that resveratrol, found in grapes, or pterostilbene, a more bio-available substance, found in blueberries, as well as rapamycin, a biotic substance discovered on Easter Island, may act as CR mimetics to increase the life span of humans.[36]

More recent work reveals that the effects long attributed to caloric restriction may be obtained by restriction of protein alone, and specifically of just the sulfur-containing amino acids cysteine and methionine.[37][38] Current research is into the metabolic pathways affected by variation in availability of products of these amino acids.

There are a number of chemicals intended to slow the aging process currently being studied in animal models.[39] One type of research is related to the observed effects a calorie restriction (CR) diet, which has been shown to extend lifespan in some animals[40] Based on that research, there have been attempts to develop drugs that will have the same effect on the aging process as a caloric restriction diet, which are known as Caloric restriction mimetic drugs. Some drugs that are already approved for other uses have been studied for possible longevity effects on laboratory animals because of a possible CR-mimic effect; they include rapamycin,[41]metformin and other geroprotectors.[42]MitoQ, Resveratrol and pterostilbene are dietary supplements that have also been studied in this context.[36][43][44]

Other attempts to create anti-aging drugs have taken different research paths. One notable direction of research has been research into the possibility of using the enzyme telomerase in order to counter the process of telomere shortening.[45] However, there are potential dangers in this, since some research has also linked telomerase to cancer and to tumor growth and formation.[46] In addition, some preparations, called senolytics are designed to effectively deplete senescent cells which poison an organism by their secretions.[47]

Future advances in nanomedicine could give rise to life extension through the repair of many processes thought to be responsible for aging. K. Eric Drexler, one of the founders of nanotechnology, postulated cell repair machines, including ones operating within cells and utilizing as yet hypothetical molecular computers, in his 1986 book Engines of Creation. Raymond Kurzweil, a futurist and transhumanist, stated in his book The Singularity Is Near that he believes that advanced medical nanorobotics could completely remedy the effects of aging by 2030.[48] According to Richard Feynman, it was his former graduate student and collaborator Albert Hibbs who originally suggested to him (circa 1959) the idea of a medical use for Feynman's theoretical micromachines (see nanotechnology). Hibbs suggested that certain repair machines might one day be reduced in size to the point that it would, in theory, be possible to (as Feynman put it) "swallow the doctor". The idea was incorporated into Feynman's 1959 essay There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom.[49]

Some life extensionists suggest that therapeutic cloning and stem cell research could one day provide a way to generate cells, body parts, or even entire bodies (generally referred to as reproductive cloning) that would be genetically identical to a prospective patient. Recently, the US Department of Defense initiated a program to research the possibility of growing human body parts on mice.[50] Complex biological structures, such as mammalian joints and limbs, have not yet been replicated. Dog and primate brain transplantation experiments were conducted in the mid-20th century but failed due to rejection and the inability to restore nerve connections. As of 2006, the implantation of bio-engineered bladders grown from patients' own cells has proven to be a viable treatment for bladder disease.[51] Proponents of body part replacement and cloning contend that the required biotechnologies are likely to appear earlier than other life-extension technologies.

The use of human stem cells, particularly embryonic stem cells, is controversial. Opponents' objections generally are based on interpretations of religious teachings or ethical considerations. Proponents of stem cell research point out that cells are routinely formed and destroyed in a variety of contexts. Use of stem cells taken from the umbilical cord or parts of the adult body may not provoke controversy.[52]

The controversies over cloning are similar, except general public opinion in most countries stands in opposition to reproductive cloning. Some proponents of therapeutic cloning predict the production of whole bodies, lacking consciousness, for eventual brain transplantation.

Replacement of biological (susceptible to diseases) organs with mechanical ones could extend life. This is the goal of 2045 Initiative.[53]

For cryonicists (advocates of cryopreservation), storing the body at low temperatures after death may provide an "ambulance" into a future in which advanced medical technologies may allow resuscitation and repair. They speculate cryogenic temperatures will minimize changes in biological tissue for many years, giving the medical community ample time to cure all disease, rejuvenate the aged and repair any damage that is caused by the cryopreservation process.

Many cryonicists do not believe that legal death is "real death" because stoppage of heartbeat and breathingthe usual medical criteria for legal deathoccur before biological death of cells and tissues of the body. Even at room temperature, cells may take hours to die and days to decompose. Although neurological damage occurs within 46 minutes of cardiac arrest, the irreversible neurodegenerative processes do not manifest for hours.[54] Cryonicists state that rapid cooling and cardio-pulmonary support applied immediately after certification of death can preserve cells and tissues for long-term preservation at cryogenic temperatures. People, particularly children, have survived up to an hour without heartbeat after submersion in ice water. In one case, full recovery was reported after 45 minutes underwater.[55] To facilitate rapid preservation of cells and tissue, cryonics "standby teams" are available to wait by the bedside of patients who are to be cryopreserved to apply cooling and cardio-pulmonary support as soon as possible after declaration of death.[56]

No mammal has been successfully cryopreserved and brought back to life, with the exception of frozen human embryos. Resuscitation of a postembryonic human from cryonics is not possible with current science. Some scientists still support the idea based on their expectations of the capabilities of future science.[57][58]

Another proposed life extension technology would combine existing and predicted future biochemical and genetic techniques. SENS proposes that rejuvenation may be obtained by removing aging damage via the use of stem cells and tissue engineering, telomere-lengthening machinery, allotopic expression of mitochondrial proteins, targeted ablation of cells, immunotherapeutic clearance, and novel lysosomal hydrolases.[59]

While many biogerontologists find these ideas "worthy of discussion"[60][61] and SENS conferences feature important research in the field,[62][63] some contend that the alleged benefits are too speculative given the current state of technology, referring to it as "fantasy rather than science".[3][5]

Gene therapy, in which nucleic acid polymers are delivered as a drug and are either expressed as proteins, interfere with the expression of proteins, or correct genetic mutations, has been proposed as a future strategy to prevent aging.[64][65]

A large array of genetic modifications have been found to increase lifespan in model organisms such as yeast, nematode worms, fruit flies, and mice. As of 2013, the longest extension of life caused by a single gene manipulation was roughly 150% in mice and 10-fold in nematode worms.[66]

In The Selfish Gene, Richard Dawkins describes an approach to life-extension that involves "fooling genes" into thinking the body is young.[67] Dawkins attributes inspiration for this idea to Peter Medawar. The basic idea is that our bodies are composed of genes that activate throughout our lifetimes, some when we are young and others when we are older. Presumably, these genes are activated by environmental factors, and the changes caused by these genes activating can be lethal. It is a statistical certainty that we possess more lethal genes that activate in later life than in early life. Therefore, to extend life, we should be able to prevent these genes from switching on, and we should be able to do so by "identifying changes in the internal chemical environment of a body that take place during aging... and by simulating the superficial chemical properties of a young body".[68]

According to some lines of thinking, the ageing process is routed into a basic reduction of biological complexity,[69] and thus loss of information. In order to reverse this loss, gerontologist Marios Kyriazis suggested that it is necessary to increase input of actionable and meaningful information both individually (into individual brains),[70] and collectively (into societal systems).[71] This technique enhances overall biological function through up-regulation of immune, hormonal, antioxidant and other parameters, resulting in improved age-repair mechanisms. Working in parallel with natural evolutionary mechanisms that can facilitate survival through increased fitness, Kryiazis claims that the technique may lead to a reduction of the rate of death as a function of age, i.e. indefinite lifespan.[72]

One hypothetical future strategy that, as some suggest, "eliminates" the complications related to a physical body, involves the copying or transferring (e.g. by progressively replacing neurons with transistors) of a conscious mind from a biological brain to a non-biological computer system or computational device. The basic idea is to scan the structure of a particular brain in detail, and then construct a software model of it that is so faithful to the original that, when run on appropriate hardware, it will behave in essentially the same way as the original brain.[73] Whether or not an exact copy of one's mind constitutes actual life extension is matter of debate.

The extension of life has been a desire of humanity and a mainstay motif in the history of scientific pursuits and ideas throughout history, from the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh and the Egyptian Smith medical papyrus, all the way through the Taoists, Ayurveda practitioners, alchemists, hygienists such as Luigi Cornaro, Johann Cohausen and Christoph Wilhelm Hufeland, and philosophers such as Francis Bacon, Ren Descartes, Benjamin Franklin and Nicolas Condorcet. However, the beginning of the modern period in this endeavor can be traced to the end of the 19th beginning of the 20th century, to the so-called fin-de-sicle (end of the century) period, denoted as an end of an epoch and characterized by the rise of scientific optimism and therapeutic activism, entailing the pursuit of life extension (or life-extensionism). Among the foremost researchers of life extension at this period were the Nobel Prize winning biologist Elie Metchnikoff (1845-1916) -- the author of the cell theory of immunity and vice director of Institut Pasteur in Paris, and Charles-douard Brown-Squard (1817-1894) -- the president of the French Biological Society and one of the founders of modern endocrinology.[74]

Sociologist James Hughes claims that science has been tied to a cultural narrative of conquering death since the Age of Enlightenment. He cites Francis Bacon (15611626) as an advocate of using science and reason to extend human life, noting Bacon's novel New Atlantis, wherein scientists worked toward delaying aging and prolonging life. Robert Boyle (16271691), founding member of the Royal Society, also hoped that science would make substantial progress with life extension, according to Hughes, and proposed such experiments as "to replace the blood of the old with the blood of the young". Biologist Alexis Carrel (18731944) was inspired by a belief in indefinite human lifespan that he developed after experimenting with cells, says Hughes.[75]

In 1970, the American Aging Association was formed under the impetus of Denham Harman, originator of the free radical theory of aging. Harman wanted an organization of biogerontologists that was devoted to research and to the sharing of information among scientists interested in extending human lifespan.

In 1976, futurists Joel Kurtzman and Philip Gordon wrote No More Dying. The Conquest Of Aging And The Extension Of Human Life, (ISBN 0-440-36247-4) the first popular book on research to extend human lifespan. Subsequently, Kurtzman was invited to testify before the House Select Committee on Aging, chaired by Claude Pepper of Florida, to discuss the impact of life extension on the Social Security system.

Saul Kent published The Life Extension Revolution (ISBN 0-688-03580-9) in 1980 and created a nutraceutical firm called the Life Extension Foundation, a non-profit organization that promotes dietary supplements. The Life Extension Foundation publishes a periodical called Life Extension Magazine. The 1982 bestselling book Life Extension: A Practical Scientific Approach (ISBN 0-446-51229-X) by Durk Pearson and Sandy Shaw further popularized the phrase "life extension".

In 1983, Roy Walford, a life-extensionist and gerontologist, published a popular book called Maximum Lifespan. In 1988, Walford and his student Richard Weindruch summarized their research into the ability of calorie restriction to extend the lifespan of rodents in The Retardation of Aging and Disease by Dietary Restriction (ISBN 0-398-05496-7). It had been known since the work of Clive McCay in the 1930s that calorie restriction can extend the maximum lifespan of rodents. But it was the work of Walford and Weindruch that gave detailed scientific grounding to that knowledge.[citation needed] Walford's personal interest in life extension motivated his scientific work and he practiced calorie restriction himself. Walford died at the age of 80 from complications caused by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Money generated by the non-profit Life Extension Foundation allowed Saul Kent to finance the Alcor Life Extension Foundation, the world's largest cryonics organization. The cryonics movement had been launched in 1962 by Robert Ettinger's book, The Prospect of Immortality. In the 1960s, Saul Kent had been a co-founder of the Cryonics Society of New York. Alcor gained national prominence when baseball star Ted Williams was cryonically preserved by Alcor in 2002 and a family dispute arose as to whether Williams had really wanted to be cryopreserved.

Regulatory and legal struggles between the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Life Extension Foundation included seizure of merchandise and court action. In 1991, Saul Kent and Bill Faloon, the principals of the Foundation, were jailed. The LEF accused the FDA of perpetrating a "Holocaust" and "seeking gestapo-like power" through its regulation of drugs and marketing claims.[76]

In 2003, Doubleday published "The Immortal Cell: One Scientist's Quest to Solve the Mystery of Human Aging," by Michael D. West. West emphasised the potential role of embryonic stem cells in life extension.[77]

Other modern life extensionists include writer Gennady Stolyarov, who insists that death is "the enemy of us all, to be fought with medicine, science, and technology";[78]transhumanist philosopher Zoltan Istvan, who proposes that the "transhumanist must safeguard one's own existence above all else";[79] futurist George Dvorsky, who considers aging to be a problem that desperately needs to be solved;[80] and recording artist Steve Aoki, who has been called "one of the most prolific campaigners for life extension".[81]

In 1991, the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine (A4M) was formed as a non-profit organization to create what it considered an anti-aging medical specialty distinct from geriatrics, and to hold trade shows for physicians interested in anti-aging medicine. The A4M trains doctors in anti-aging medicine and publicly promotes the field of anti-aging research. It has about 26,000 members, of whom about 97% are doctors and scientists.[82] The American Board of Medical Specialties recognizes neither anti-aging medicine nor the A4M's professional standing.[83]

In 2003, Aubrey de Grey and David Gobel formed the Methuselah Foundation, which gives financial grants to anti-aging research projects. In 2009, de Grey and several others founded the SENS Research Foundation, a California-based scientific research organization which conducts research into aging and funds other anti-aging research projects at various universities.[84] In 2013, Google announced Calico, a new company based in San Francisco that will harness new technologies to increase scientific understanding of the biology of aging.[85] It is led by Arthur D. Levinson,[86] and its research team includes scientists such as Hal V. Barron, David Botstein, and Cynthia Kenyon. In 2014, biologist Craig Venter founded Human Longevity Inc., a company dedicated to scientific research to end aging through genomics and cell therapy. They received funding with the goal of compiling a comprehensive human genotype, microbiome, and phenotype database.[87]

Aside from private initiatives, aging research is being conducted in university laboratories, and includes universities such as Harvard and UCLA. University researchers have made a number of breakthroughs in extending the lives of mice and insects by reversing certain aspects of aging.[88][89][90][91]

Though many scientists state[92] that life extension and radical life extension are possible, there are still no international or national programs focused on radical life extension. There are political forces staying for and against life extension. By 2012, in Russia, the United States, Israel, and the Netherlands, the Longevity political parties started. They aimed to provide political support to radical life extension research and technologies, and ensure the fastest possible and at the same time soft transition of society to the next step life without aging and with radical life extension, and to provide access to such technologies to most currently living people.[93]

Leon Kass (chairman of the US President's Council on Bioethics from 2001 to 2005) has questioned whether potential exacerbation of overpopulation problems would make life extension unethical.[94] He states his opposition to life extension with the words:

"simply to covet a prolonged life span for ourselves is both a sign and a cause of our failure to open ourselves to procreation and to any higher purpose ... [The] desire to prolong youthfulness is not only a childish desire to eat one's life and keep it; it is also an expression of a childish and narcissistic wish incompatible with devotion to posterity."[95]

John Harris, former editor-in-chief of the Journal of Medical Ethics, argues that as long as life is worth living, according to the person himself, we have a powerful moral imperative to save the life and thus to develop and offer life extension therapies to those who want them.[96]

Transhumanist philosopher Nick Bostrom has argued that any technological advances in life extension must be equitably distributed and not restricted to a privileged few.[97] In an extended metaphor entitled "The Fable of the Dragon-Tyrant", Bostrom envisions death as a monstrous dragon who demands human sacrifices. In the fable, after a lengthy debate between those who believe the dragon is a fact of life and those who believe the dragon can and should be destroyed, the dragon is finally killed. Bostrom argues that political inaction allowed many preventable human deaths to occur.[98]

Life extension is a controversial topic due to fear of overpopulation and possible effects on society.[99] Biogerontologist Aubrey De Grey counters the overpopulation critique by pointing out that the therapy could postpone or eliminate menopause, allowing women to space out their pregnancies over more years and thus decreasing the yearly population growth rate.[100] Moreover, the philosopher and futurist Max More argues that, given the fact the worldwide population growth rate is slowing down and is projected to eventually stabilize and begin falling, superlongevity would be unlikely to contribute to overpopulation.[99]

A Spring 2013 Pew Research poll in the United States found that 38% of Americans would want life extension treatments, and 56% would reject it. However, it also found that 68% believed most people would want it and that only 4% consider an "ideal lifespan" to be more than 120 years. The median "ideal lifespan" was 91 years of age and the majority of the public (63%) viewed medical advances aimed at prolonging life as generally good. 41% of Americans believed that radical life extension (RLE) would be good for society, while 51% said they believed it would be bad for society.[101] One possibility for why 56% of Americans claim they would reject life extension treatments may be due to the cultural perception that living longer would result in a longer period of decrepitude, and that the elderly in our current society are unhealthy.[102]

Religious people are no more likely to oppose life extension than the unaffiliated,[101] though some variation exists between religious denominations.

Most mainstream medical organizations and practitioners do not consider aging to be a disease. David Sinclair says: "Idon't see aging as a disease, but as a collection of quite predictable diseases caused by the deterioration of the body".[103] The two main arguments used are that aging is both inevitable and universal while diseases are not.[104] However, not everyone agrees. Harry R. Moody, Director of Academic Affairs for AARP, notes that what is normal and what is disease strongly depends on a historical context.[105] David Gems, Assistant Director of the Institute of Healthy Ageing, strongly argues that aging should be viewed as a disease.[106] In response to the universality of aging, David Gems notes that it is as misleading as arguing that Basenji are not dogs because they do not bark.[107] Because of the universality of aging he calls it a 'special sort of disease'. Robert M. Perlman, coined the terms aging syndrome and disease complex in 1954 to describe aging.[108]

The discussion whether aging should be viewed as a disease or not has important implications. It would stimulate pharmaceutical companies to develop life extension therapies and in the United States of America, it would also increase the regulation of the anti-aging market by the FDA. Anti-aging now falls under the regulations for cosmetic medicine which are less tight than those for drugs.[107][109]

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Chronic fatigue syndrome

Chronic liver disease

Chronic lung diseases

Chronic noncommunicable diseases

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Chronic pulmonary heart

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Supercourse: Epidemiology, the Internet, and Global Health

Today's healthcare challenges and tomorrow's opportunity can only be met by those who search out deeper explanations of the body processes that generate health and disease. Life expectancy has increased due to advances in medical science. However it has come with little progress towards quality of life or the length of disease-free years in the majority of population.

Most researchers believe that maximum life span in human is slightly over 110 years. Beyond that age, the estimates and speculation enter the realms of science fiction.

Old age is the most unexpected of all things that happens to man. -

Leon Trotsky

Aging has been a fact of life ever since it was created. Human beings go through various phases of life from being child to youth to being adult with youth being the best part of life from health point of view. Good health, strong muscles, an efficient immune system, a sharp memory and a healthy brain are characteristic of ideal youth. The hormones work at their peak capacity during the youth years.

Anti-Aging medicine aims to maintain or achieve this irrespective of chronological age i.e. to stay healthy and biologically efficient.

The prestigious scientific journal, Biogerontology, defines aging as: The progressive failing ability of the body's own intrinsic and genetic powers to defend, maintain and repair itself in order to keep working efficiently.

We are now living in the information age. Medical knowledge is increasing at an amazing rate-doubling every three years. This doubling rate of information is progressively decreasing. The world is changing and so is the way we view our health and well being as we age.

Aging has been believed to be inherent, universal, progressive natural phenomenon. It is detrimental with no benefits except perhaps wisdom. But now there is a paradigm shift in looking at the aging process based on firmly documented evidence in medical and scientific literature. If we plot the health in y-axis and the number of years in x-axis, the curve of life is like a triangle which is skewed with its apex at 25-30 years. Anti-aging helps to make it rectangle.

Many natural aging mechanisms frequently result in actual diseases. From this we can conclude that fighting an aging process may well bring about an improvement of an age related illness.

All animals or plants eventually show signs of aging even if they are in a protected environment. When we look at Ayurveda which prescribes plants or their components and extracts to fight against illness, one has to wonder why? Nature created these plant chemicals to help them protect against diseases or aging. Humans have later adapted these chemicals for their own use to increase their chances of maintaining their health.

Anti-aging medicine is an evolving branch of medical science and applied medicine. It treats the underlying causes of aging and aims at alleviating any age related ailment. Its goal is to extend the healthy lifespan of humans having youthful characteristics.

Conventional and alternative medical disciplines are used in an integrated approach to achieve the best possible result for the patient. It is a holistic discipline, seeing the patient as a whole and not as someone having an isolated disease.

Those physicians interested in studying age related medicine can do so by attending courses offered by various organization across the globe with predominant being The American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine or A4M. It is not yet formally accredited by the American Medical Association. Some scientists and physicians take offense at the name Anti-Aging as they think it is unscientific. They have suggested terms such as Age Management Medicine, Advanced Preventive Medicine, Interventive Biogerontology. But the underlying principles remain the same.

Aging is a progressive failure of metabolic processes. There is a concept of pause as put forth by Dr. Eric Braverman indicating that every organ ages at a different rate. To a certain extent it is based on hormones. All these have been put forth into various theories as follows:

Free Radical Theory

The Nuroendocrine Theory

Telomerase Theory of Aging

The Wear and Tear Theory

The Rate of Living Theory

The Waste Product Accumulation Theory

The Cross-linking Theory

The Immune Theory

Theories of Errors and Repairs

The Order to Disorder Theory

Some of these contradict and others overlap. But underlying these are three main biochemical processes involved in aging. These are oxidation, glycation and methylation. Other relevant processes are chronic inflammation and hormonal deregulation.

Free radicals are a group of simple compounds with an electron missing from their chemical structure. This makes them unstable. They seek out other chemical structures from which they can acquire an electron and in the process make them unstable.

Free radicals in small and controlled quantities are useful in everyday metabolism. They take part in several normal reactions within the body including breathing. These free radicals are mainly produced during oxygen metabolism within the cells. The problem starts when the production of these free radicals increases and goes out of control.

Free radical reactions can be divided into three stages: Initiation, Propagation and Termination. The defense mechanisms against these are inactivating them within the cells soon after production, removing them by scavenging antioxidants and increasing the elimination of material already damaged by free radicals.

To put it in practice means to prevent exposure to free radicals from sources such as pollution, bad diet, and smoking and take antioxidants. The term antioxidant refers to chain-breaking compound. Broadly antioxidant is any substance, that when present at low concentrations compared with those of an oxidizable substrate significantly delays or inhibits oxidation of that substrate.

Free radicals damage the cell membrane which is composed of lipids and proteins. Their interaction results in the production of the chemical Melondialdehyde which is very harmful, contributing to another important aging process called glycation.

When glucose molecules and other sugars such as fructose attach themselves to proteins, it is called glycation. This results in brownish discoloration of tissues. The binding of sugar to protein causes cross linking of proteins. Cross linked proteins cause more damage by reacting with free radicals and other toxins to create Advanced Glycation Endproducts (AGEs). These AGEs bind to cells at special attachment sites called RAGEs (Receptor for AGEs). These result in the production of several harmful chemicals damaging tissues.

AGEs are found in most tissues in the body and their concentration increases from the age of twenty onward.

However nutrient such as carnosine and other Anti-Aging supplements/drugs can help in breaking this process.

Unfortunately the process of glycation not only affects proteins, but also interferes with DNA. A cross linked DNA molecule is of no use at all. There are drugs being investigated which can actually break this bond between cross linked proteins which are glycated.

When methyl groups are being added to different constituents of the proteins, DNA and other molecules to keep them in good, active condition, it is called methylation. This is necessary for the normal maintenance of tissues and is usually kept at a healthy levels naturally by the body. Methylation of certain parts of the DNA causes permanent switching off of unnecessary genes and saves the body from abnormal DNA division. This means that methylation of those particular sections of DNA blocks any abnormal DNA from being passed onto the future generations of cells.

Any chronic inflammation process affects methylation because the immune system, which is heavily involved in fighting inflammation, gorges itself on methyl groups, leaving nothing for other tissues of the body.

Low methylation is reflected in the increasing levels of homocysteine, which is found in chronic inflammatory processes such as lupus, heart disease and diabetes. Increased intake of methylators reduces the risk of these diseases.

There are scientists who believe that most age related changes in the body are due to chronic inflammation. When there is chronic inflammation, the body tissues are eaten away by toxic chemicals, resulting in dementia, thickening of the arteries, arthritis, diabetes, hormonal imbalance and so on. Taking low dose of anti-inflammatory chemicals such as Aspirin keeps age related inflammation at bay. However, this is not a widely shared opinion. A diet containing nutrients i.e. fish (contains anti-inflammatory oils), fruit and vegetables, particularly berries (which are packed full of antioxidants and inflammation-fighting flavonoids) along with supplements like alpha lipoic acid and co-enzyme Q10 are helpful.

There is little doubt about the important role hormones play in our lives and in aging. The pacemakers of youth, these precious little chemicals keep us young, healthy and vibrant. In general, aging results in imbalance of hormones in the body or one can also ask Does hormonal imbalance cause aging? Hormones such as growth hormone, melatonin and DHEA need to be replaced or reactivated during aging to prevent the body from falling apart. It is also important to make sure that the binding sites of the hormones need to be in good working order. According to Dr. Eric Braverman, proponent of pause theory, every organ in the body ages at a different rate. The classical example of this is the menopause in females and the literature is replete with Hormone Replacement Therapy for the same. It seems prudent to replace the other hormones in physiological limits. Hormone replacement therapy is likely to play a very important role in maintaining health in time to come. It is very important here to make the distinction between the Synthetic hormones and the Bioidentical hormones which is discussed later.

Enhance health through eating a hormonally correct diet

Enrich body with optimum doses of proven antioxidants and nutraceuticals

Improve physical exercise performance, which includes aerobic, anaerobic and flexibility training

Replace hormones to levels to those of 20-30 years old.

The importance of food we eat can be summarized by what Dr. Barry Sears said and I quote: The food you eat is probably the most powerful drug you will encounter. But to use this drug correctly, you have to apply the hormonal rules about the food that haven't changed in the past 40 million years and are unlikely to change anytime soon.

Balancing Insulin and glucagon activity is at the core of eating a hormonally correct diet. The hormonally correct diet contains 30% protein, 50% carbohydrates and 20% fat along with vitamins, minerals and drinking plenty of water which is filtered, mineralized and magnetized. Eating small meals every 4-5 hours and eating the proper ratio of proteins, carbohydrates and fat at each meal or snack can mean a difference between illness and good health.

Eating proper food for one's height, weight and body type and activity level is the foundation for a better quality of life and greater longevity.

Dr. Alex Lief, MD Harvard Medical School has said and I quote: Exercise is the closest thing we have to an anti-aging pill. Regular physical activity has been a way of life for virtually every person who has reached the age of 100 years in sound condition. Exercise is medicine. If you think that smoking is not good, the following statement will enlighten. Not exercising has the equivalent impact on your health as smoking one and one half pack of cigarettes a day.

These include various antioxidants, vitamins and minerals. These include but are not limited to Vitamin A, C, E, mineral selenium, glutathione, superoxide dismutase, Coenzyme Q10, Alpha Lipoic Acid and Carnosine.

First we have to distinguish the synthetic hormones and bioidentical hormones. The former differ in chemical structure from the later which exactly have the same structure as the hormones we have in our body. Hence they can not be patented. These are available as injection, tablets, and creams. They are derived from Yam or Soy. The goal of hormone replacement therapy is to bring them to the level of youth. Again it has to be done after complete evaluation and under the guidance of an Anti-Aging physician.

The future will involve manipulating genes, increasing utilization of stem cells (embryonic and adult) and targeted delivery of nutrients and drugs using nanotechnology.

It is my hope that this will help you begin your educational journey in Anti-Aging Medicine.

Link:
Anti-aging medicine - National Center for Biotechnology ...

We Are Magnet

UT Southwestern has achieved Magnet designation, the highest honor bestowed by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC).

We've brought the leading-edge therapies and world-class care of UT Southwestern to Richardson/Plano, Las Colinas, and the Park Cities.

Clinical Center at Las Colinas The Las Colinas Obstetrics/Gynecology Clinic is a full-service practice, treating the full range of obstetric and gynecologic conditions.

Clinical Center at Park Cities The Clinical Center at Park Cities features cardiology, general internal medicine, obstetric/gynecologic, and rheumatology services.

Clinical Center at Richardson/Plano The Clinical Center at Richardson/Plano features behavioral health, cancer, neurology, obstetric/gynecologic, primary care, sports medicine, and urology services.

UT Southwestern Medical Center is honored frequently for the quality of our care and the significance of our discoveries. Some of our recent awards include the Press Ganey Beacon of Excellence Award for patient satisfaction and the National Research Consultants' Five Star National Excellence Award.

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UT Southwestern, Dallas, Texas - UTSW Medicine (Patient ...

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Posted: September 13, 2016

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