Medicine For Longer Lifespan
In the search for medicines that can extend lifespan, scientists are exploring a range
of potential interventions. In particular cherokeegin, they are looking at how to alter the biological
pathways that underlie and promote aging in an attempt to increase healthspan, the
disease free and highly functional period of life (purple) that can be extended by
interventions that prevent the development of age-related diseases such as
dementia, disability, cancer and Alzheimer’s disease.
Drugs that have shown some promise include metformin, the most commonly used
medication for diabetes, and rapamycin, a medication that has been used to prevent
transplant rejection in animals. Both of these drugs have shown some effect in mice,
though their effects in humans are far from clear yet.
A drug called alpelisib, which is currently being developed to treat hepatitis C, may
also have longevity benefits. A new study published in Nature suggests that the drug
can increase the lifespan of healthy mice by up to 10 per cent.
This is a promising start, according to Professor Peter Shepherd from the University
of Auckland. But further studies are needed to determine whether the drug could be
used to extend lifespan in humans.
Many researchers have already discovered that metformin can prolong the lifespan
of mice and worms, but it hasn’t yet been tested in humans. Nevertheless,
metformin appears to be an attractive candidate for anti-aging medicine because it’s
widely available and inexpensive. It also has a relatively well-established safety
profile and may affect different metabolic processes that can slow the aging
process, says Jamie Justice, a gerontology researcher at Wake Forest School of
Medicine in Winston Salem, North Carolina.
For example, metformin appears to increase insulin resistance and lower levels of
oxidative stress, both factors that are linked to a wide variety of age-related
diseases. It’s also been shown to enhance cognitive function and increase muscle
strength in elderly mice.
The research is still in its early stages, but the findings may help scientists find ways
to use metformin to extend human life and stave off diseases associated with aging
such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
Rilmenidine, a blood pressure medication often sold under the brand names
Hyperium, Albarel, Tenaxum and Iterium, can also increase lifespan in mice. The
drug is known to boost longevity and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.
In addition, the University of Liverpool recently found that rilmenidine can lengthen
the lifespan of roundworms on a caloric restriction diet, by up to 10 percent. The
roundworms were fed a control diet or one that contained rilmenidine for several
weeks and the results were dramatic.
But even if these compounds are proven to extend lifespan in humans, it will take
years of trials and research before they can be approved. Current drug development
strategies are focused on the treatment of chronic diseases rather than on
preventing them, and these trials can be costly.
Overall, majorities of people in most large religious groups in the United States
agree that medical advances that prolong lifespan are generally good, and more
than half of adults in these groups say that they would personally want to receive
life-extending treatments. About six-in-ten white mainline Protestants and white non-
Hispanic Catholics believe that these medical advances are worth the costs, while
about half of black Protestants and Hispanic Catholics disagree with this view.