Is Aging a Disease?
Aging is not an inevitable consequence
for all life. There are some organisms
that do not experience any decline
in function as they get older, such
as bristlecone pines. Lobsters don’t de-
velop any signs of aging; they just keep
getting bigger. Greenland sharks live
over 500 years and don’t reach sexual
maturity until they are 150 years old
(that’s a long time to wait!). Certain
jellyfish are apparently immortal.
David Sinclair is an anti-aging re-
searcher who has a new book out called
Lifespan: Why We Age and Why We Don’t
Have To. He claims that aging is a dis-
ease that can be treated and even pre-
vented. He foresees a future where
people will live much longer (maybe
even forever?) and will enjoy good
health and vigor in old age. He provides
an excellent overview of intriguing re-
cent research findings. Sinclair puts his
money where his mouth is and applies
the findings to his own health regimen:
- He takes a gram each of NMN,
(nicotinamide mononucleotide)
resveratrol, and metformin daily. - He takes vitamin D, vitamin K2, and
83 mg. of aspirin daily. - He limits sugar, bread, and pasta
intake, doesn’t eat desserts, and
avoids eating meat. - He skips one meal a day.
- He gets frequent blood tests to monitor
biomarkers; if not optimal, he tries
to moderate them with food and
exercise. - He stays active, goes to the gym, jogs,
lifts weights, uses the sauna and
then dunks in an ice-cold pool. - He doesn’t smoke.
- He avoids microwaved plastic, exces-
sive UV exposure, X-rays, and CT
scans. - He tries to keep environmental
temperatures on the cool side. - He maintains a BMI of 23-25.
He thinks it is working for him.
He feels younger. Maybe he’s right, but
he admits “It’s impossible to say if my
regimen is working...but it doesn’t
seem to be hurting.” Some of what he
does has been studied and is known to
improve health (exercising, not smok-
ing, controlling weight) but much of it
is based on speculation and hope.
His regimen reminds me of Ray
Kurzweil,who explains in his book Fan-
tastic Voyage how he combed the litera-
ture looking for anything that might
allow him to live long enough for science
to discover the key to immortality, which
will then enable him to live forever. He
gets frequent scans, cancer screens, and
blood tests. He takes 250 pills a day: diet
supplements like gingko and vinpocetine.
He also takes several Chinese herbs. He
spends one day a week in a clinic getting
IV infusions of nutrients, IV chelation,
and acupuncture. He meditates and gets
massages. He had his mercury amalgam
fillings removed, uses an ionic air filter,
and follows a strict organic diet. He fears
cell phones, shower water, electric ra-
zors, plastic, the aluminum in deodor-
ants, and sugar. He claims that shiatsu
and acupressure massage are intended to
correct imbalances according to princi-
ples of energy flow between different
organ systems in the body. He thinks
water can record memories. Despite his
research, much of what he advocates is
not supported by the scientific evidence.
In my review of Sinclair’s book^4
for Sciencebasedmedicine.org I ex-
plained why I found the research fasci-
nating but didn’t find his arguments
entirely convincing. In my opinion,
both Sinclair and Kurzweil are overly
optimistic and too willing to forge
ahead before the evidence is in. Kurzweil
is 71 and Sinclair is 50. Time will tell. If
they both live well past 100, I might
have to eat my words; but then I’ll
probably die before they do. I’m 74 and
have already lived longer than either of
them—without the benefit of anti-
aging remedies.The Research is Intriguing
The research suggests that a loss of in-
formation may be the singular reason
we age. Sinclair believes aging occurs
when cellular damage activates our
epigenetic repair mechanisms and
they become overwhelmed: genes that
should be on switch off (and vice versa)
and chaos ensues. He invokes horme-sis: a little stress is good for us, but too
much stress causes aging.
Research has identified a number of
longevity genes that could also be called
vitality genes. Experiments in animals
have demonstrated that modifying the
activity of these genes can speed or slow
the changes of aging and can prolong life.
Some of the factors being studied: sirtu-
ins, NAD (Nicotinamide adenine dinu-
cleotide), rapamycin, TOR (target of
rapamycin), NMN, the diabetes drug
metformin, resveratrol, etc. Telomeres
are a region of repetitive nucleotide se-
quences at the end of each chromosome:
telomere shortening seems to play an im-
portant role in aging. Stem cells, genetic
analysis, and new technologies are being
studied. Mice given NAD became such
enthusiastic runners that they broke the
lab’s treadmill. There are anecdotal re-
ports of NMN restoring fertility in aged
women and, again, lifestyle changes such
as exercising, eating less, avoiding to-
bacco, intermittent fasting, avoiding obe-
sity, etc. may help delay aging.
I would love to think humans
could live many more years in good
health and maybe even live forever. But
I am skeptical. The scientific studies
are promising but provisional; they are
far from definitive. The history of sci-
ence shows us that early positive stud-
ies are all too frequently reversed by
subsequent larger, better studies, and
unforeseen consequences are common.
There are many anti-aging dietary sup-
plements on the market, with enticing
names like Life Extension and Ageless
Body. They contain varying mixtures of
vitamins, collagen and whey proteins,
antioxidants, herbs, minerals, and even
a sugar (D-ribose). They claim many
health benefits, but most of the ingre-
dients and mixtures have never actually
been tested for clinically significant
health benefits, much less for longevity.
The Fountain of Youth is still a myth.volume 25 number 1 2020 WWW.SKEPTIC.COM 5REFERENCES