Tag: Anti-aging medicine

anti-aging therapies
Anti-Aging: The Growing Popularity Of Radical Life Extension – Article by Kimberly Forsythe

Anti-Aging: The Growing Popularity Of Radical Life Extension – Article by Kimberly Forsythe

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Kimberly Forsythe

There are numerous anti-aging therapies, which are used to slow the aging process in humans. Each of these therapies has its own advantages and disadvantages. For example, there are anti-aging processes such as anti-oxidants, anti-aging nutrients, anti-aging exercise programs, anti-aging diets, and anti-aging supplements that are said to extend a person’s lifespan. Aging is said to be a natural process that cannot be slowed or reversed once humans undergo it, and which accelerates greatly after puberty and early adulthood; however, some experts do not agree with this. There are several theories on the subject of aging that have varying outlooks on the actual causes of aging.

What Causes Aging in Humans?

There are various theories that explain the causes of aging, but they do not all agree. While we are making new discoveries all the time, we still do not have definitive answers on what causes aging. Some researchers believe that oxidative damage is what causes aging, and others believe genetics are involved in causing aging.

The evidence for the oxidative damage by sunlight, poor diet, and poor exercising habits is strong. For example, if your parents or grandparents had a shorter lifespan than the average person, it’s possible that part of the reason was that they didn’t have a good diet, they didn’t exercise, or they didn’t avoid the common environmental hazards we encounter today. That certainly makes some sense.

You might think that they all contribute equally, which is certainly plausible. Consider how much impact the food we eat has on our health. If the foods we eat are generally unhealthy, then the oxidative damage done to our cells will be greater, and our lifespan will be shortened. If the foods we eat are rich in antioxidants and are beneficial to health, then we will be healthier, and the oxidative damage we do to our cells will be lessened.

So, one could say that oxidative damage is what causes aging, and the antioxidants are what counteract it. But that’s too simple. Actually, free radicals do more damage to our cells than oxidative damage, so it stands to reason that free radicals add to the damage. In other words, instead of wearing away at the cells in a chemical process, free radicals cause cell death.

However, the evidence for genetics is also strong. When the telomeres within the protective shell of the cell are damaged, they become shorter. As a result, the “RNA” within the telomere becomes too short. The second factor which causes aging is cell senescence, or aging at the cellular level.

There are many different forms of cell senescence, but the main ones are in peripheral tissues such as skin, muscles, and blood vessels. If this continues, then the total number of cells may start to decline. The decline in cell numbers is partly what causes aging in general.

Another factor is called DNA damage, and this is caused by exposure to radiation and to chemicals used during manufacturing. This is a big problem, because DNA is responsible for the repair of cellular damage, and if it gets damaged, it can stop replicating to produce new cells altogether. This would mean that the aging process could not be stopped, and the body will just keep getting older without any real control.

What is Radical Life Extension?

Radical life extension is the process of using anti-aging technology to reverse age-related processes that are already underway. Anti-aging techniques rely on a combination of knowledge and understanding of the aging process, as well as on modern-day scientific breakthroughs. Scientists are only just now beginning to unlock many of the mysteries surrounding the mechanisms of aging.

In theory, we could live forever if we found a way to completely rejuvenate ourselves after we passed the age of sixty. Some people are under the impression that curing or reversing aging is impossible. But at the very least, we might be able to make ourselves better, or at least age gracefully. It is not known how far the search has come, but some of the results so far have been very promising.

When Will Aging be Cured or Reversed?

To cure or reverse aging, it will be necessary to find some way to increase the lifespan of humans. Many questions surround which scientific approach to anti-aging will be the most beneficial to humans. Perhaps we will lengthen lifespans by curing all of the diseases that we are prone to, or perhaps by using genetic engineering to insert new genes into the human genome. For some transhumanists, the ultimate aim would be to live forever. Others, however, wish only to increase the number of healthy years.

There is a great deal of interest in the subject of radical life extension, and there is considerable money involved. Investors are piling in to fund research to unlock more theories about aging and the mysteries that scientists are trying to unravel. There are, unfortunately, many unfounded claims and charlatans out there misleading the public about how we may be able to cure or reverse aging.

Some people have made the mistake of thinking that radical life extension is magic, or of taking a magical pill that will turn you into an immortal. While there is promising research for medications that can reduce biological age, the notion that it will be an immediate and instant cure is likely a distortion of the truth. We need to understand that aging is just one of the processes that occur within us, but there are many ways we can counter these processes. It is possible to extend your life significantly, but this requires an understanding of the aging process as a whole.

Overall, the more resources we put into studying the aging process and search for effective ways of curing or reversing aging, the faster we will find answers to questions that humans have sought after for ages. The “Fountain of Youth” may arrive sooner than we think. It is important that we collectively understand the implications of reversing aging and take steps to address these issues as soon as possible.

Related reading:

Healthier, longer lifespans will be a reality sooner than you think, Juvenescence promises as it closes $100M round

Citi Lists Anti-Aging Medicines in Top 10 Disruptive Technologies – Article by Steve Hill

Citi Lists Anti-Aging Medicines in Top 10 Disruptive Technologies – Article by Steve Hill

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Steve Hill

Editor’s Note: The U.S. Transhumanist Party features this article by our guest Steve Hill, originally published by the Life Extension Advocacy Foundation (LEAF) on August 30th, 2018. In this article, Mr. Hill presents Citi’s latest disruptive innovation publication, in which anti-aging medicine is #2 on the list! This is one more example, out of the myriad of examples, of how big of an impact this field is making. One of the reasons Citi considers the development of anti-aging medicines to have a high impact is the fact that “U.S. health spending, which increases significantly with age in concordance with age-related diseases, is expected to exceed ~20% of U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) by 2025.” 

~Bobby Ridge, Assistant Editor, June 27, 2019

Citi has produced another of its Disruptive Innovations publications, which takes a look at what it considers to be the top ten disruptive technologies. It is a sign of the changing times that anti-aging medicines are number 2 in its list.

1. All-Solid-State Batteries
2. Anti-Aging Medicines
3. Autonomous Vehicle Networks
4. Big Data & Healthcare
5. Dynamic Spectrum Access
6. eSports
7. 5G Technology
8. Floating Offshore Wind Farms
9. Real Estate Market Disruptors
10. Smart Voice-Activated Assistants

What was considered fringe science a decade ago is now rapidly becoming a mainstream industry. Our understanding of aging has advanced quickly in the last 10 years, and the tools and innovations seem to come more quickly with each passing year. A variety of therapies that target different aging processes are in development, and some are at fairly advanced stages; if you are interested in their progress, check out the Rejuvenation Roadmap.

Advancing Health by Turning Back Time

The legend of the restorative powers of the Fountain of Youth has fascinated human civilization throughout the generations, dating all the way back to the Greeks (e.g., Herodotus). Other hypothetical conduits for a return to a state of youthfulness (e.g. the Philosopher’s Stone) have featured prominently throughout human civilization as alluring, but equally elusive. Fast forward to 2018, and very recent cutting-edge scientific breakthroughs may, at long last, fundamentally explain why we age. This rapid scientific progress could spawn FDA-approved therapeutics potentially in the next decade, with the primary goal of keeping us younger and alive for longer.

Today, the anti-aging market, while huge (~$200 billion globally), is largely restricted to non-therapeutics (cosmetic products and procedures). At the same time, U.S. health spending, which increases significantly with age in concordance with age-related diseases (see Figure 8), is expected to exceed ~20% of U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) by 2025. Thus, with scientific breakthroughs emerging this decade on the cellular origins of why the tissues in our body’s age, novel anti-aging medicines may become one of the next big disruptions in the healthcare market.

Senolytics are the main focus here, which is logical given that, of all the therapies being developed to combat aging, they are the farthest along in the pipeline. These analysts suggest that we could see senolytics arrive by 2023; while these drugs are only part of the full suite of therapies required to bring aging under medical control, it is likely that we will see senolytics and, perhaps, a few other therapies arrive at that time.

First Senolytic Therapy Could Be Approved by 2023

The first senolytic therapy in clinical trials is a compound by Unity, UBX0101, which is a small-molecule drug that functions by inducing apoptosis (i.e., programmed cell death), specifically in senescent cells. The company is first testing UBX0101 locally in patients with moderate osteoarthritis of the knee, which is a substantially large market (~17 million patients). Initial proof-of-concept data from the Phase 1 trial are expected in the first quarter of 2019. If successful in later clinical development through Phase 3, UBX0101 could become commercially available by 2023.

While speculative given the novelty of the senolytic therapeutic strategy, a successful therapeutic that could resolve osteoarthritic knees and return knee tissue to a more youthful state could have a negative impact on the knee-replacement surgery market (currently projected to grow to >3 million knee replacements per year by 2030). Because other senolytics are being developed for multiple
ophthalmologic (wet AMD, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy) and pulmonary (COPD, idiopathic pulmonary disease) indications, within the next ~10–20 years patients with a range of age-related diseases may experience a decreased need for therapies now considered standard of care.

UNITY, Siwa, and Oisin are all mentioned in the report. and it is worth having a read, as the section about aging is fairly large and detailed and takes a look at past and present attempts to combat age-related diseases by targeting the aging processes directly.

Conclusion

It is beyond question that progress and interest in the field is growing quickly, and with some therapies now entering human trials, we could be close to a societal tipping point at which more people start to take notice of the potential of new medical approaches. There is a long way to go before we can end age-related diseases, but the tide has turned.

Steve Hill serves on the LEAF Board of Directors and is the Editor in Chief, coordinating the daily news articles and social media content of the organization. He is an active journalist in the aging research and biotechnology field and has to date written over 500 articles on the topic as well as attending various medical industry conferences. In 2019 he was listed in the top 100 journalists covering biomedicine and longevity research in the industry report – Top-100 Journalists covering advanced biomedicine and longevity, created by the Aging Analytics Agency. His work has been featured in H+ Magazine, Psychology Today, Singularity Weblog, Standpoint Magazine, Keep Me Prime, and New Economy Magazine. Steve has a background in project management and administration which has helped him to build a united team for effective fundraising and content creation, while his additional knowledge of biology and statistical data analysis allows him to carefully assess and coordinate the scientific groups involved in the project. In 2015 he led the Major Mouse Testing Program (MMTP) for the International Longevity Alliance and in 2016 helped the team of the SENS Research Foundation to reach their goal for the OncoSENS campaign for cancer research.