Earlier quoted context omitted.
Imagine a world in which Xi, Kim Jong *, and a host of other wealthy dictators were immortal, and the rest of us pee-ons were not. I believe that is the future of high tech immortality.
I've been thinking about this lately too, it almost feels like we're here already. I often read stories about innocent younger people dying from something tragic; However, why do I almost never wake up to, " has unexpectedly and peacefully passed away in their sleep?" Brave new world I guess?
Anti-aging stem cell treatment proves successful in early human trials
61–70 of 119 posts
Re: Anti-aging stem cell treatment proves successful in early human trials
#62Earlier quoted context omitted.
“In the first trial 15 frail patients received a single MSC infusion collected from bone marrow donors aged between 20 and 45 years old. Six months later all patients demonstrated improved fitness outcomes, tumor necrosis factor levels and overall quality of life. The second trial was a randomized, double blind study with placebo group. Again no adverse affects were reported and physical improvements were noted by th…
I am not criticizing the study. I am highlighting that the conclusion that the paper arrives at i the correct one: That it warrants large scale studies. This work is a prime candidate for being misrepresented as showing that this stem cell treatment is effective for age related health issues. There are 30 participants in the phase 2 trial. There are two treatment groups (100M and 200M) with different dose and one pla…
Re: Anti-aging stem cell treatment proves successful in early human trials
#63Re: Anti-aging stem cell treatment proves successful in early human trials
#64Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't see how this thinking is any different than banning abortions. It's not your problem so shush.
Should you ban murder? (I leave this as food for thought and an explanation of why I downvoted you. We're off-topic though and shouldn't continue this thread.)
Re: Anti-aging stem cell treatment proves successful in early human trials
#65The scope of the possible in the near term is to find way to incrementally improve the condition, not produce a sizable reversal, but that is an improvement over the current situation, given that there is no effective treatment. The closest thing to a standardized, proven, reliable class of stem cell therapies involves the use of mesenchymal stem cells, sourced from a patient, or from lines of cells grown and engineered for transplantation with minimal risk. The primary outcome of mesenchymal stem cell therapies, or at least the reliable outcome, is a reduction in the systemic, chronic inflammation that accompanies old age. While it is entirely possible that other mechanisms are at work, the cells typically don't last long following transplantation, and thus it is the brief signaling changes that must produce benefits that can last for months or longer.
Chronic inflammation is a major problem in aging. It drives progression of most of the age-related conditions, and high levels of inflammation are certainly considered to be a major component of frailty syndrome in the old. In the context of a general treatment for frailty based on reductions in inflammation, the focus is less on the acceleration of specific age-related conditions over time, however, and more on the immediate consequences of constant high levels of inflammation for cell biochemistry, pain, cognitive function, joint function, regeneration, and tissue maintenance. Many aspects of age-related dysfunction are to some degree being actively maintained in their current impacted state by the presence of inflammation - take away that inflammation, and the problems subside a little, back to the lower level of harm and loss expected due to accumulated cell and tissue damage.
In recent years, it has become clear that chronic inflammation, as opposed to the normal short-term inflammation resulting from injury or infection, disrupts the finely tuned dance carried out between tissue and immune system needed for regeneration. This is an emerging theme in the investigation of how senescent cells cause aging, for example, as these unwanted cells are potent sources of inflammatory signaling. So if we see unreliable or marginal benefits from stem cell therapies that look like enhanced regeneration, it might well be that this is at root a short-term reduction in the age-related disruption of tissue maintenance - perhaps enough to allow a little reconstruction to take place in some patients. This is speculation, of course, and the cellular biochemistry is challenging to investigate; we should probably expect a first generation of moderately reliable therapies in advance of complete understanding of their mechanisms. Here is another point to consider on this topic: if the inflammation model of benefits is correct, then clearance of senescent cells should be at least as good a treatment for frailty as mesenchymal stem cell transplant, and probably better and more lasting.
Re: Anti-aging stem cell treatment proves successful in early human trials
#66Earlier quoted context omitted.
you're welcome to die whenever you want, just don't speak for the rest of us.
Imagine a world in which Xi, Kim Jong *, and a host of other wealthy dictators were immortal, and the rest of us pee-ons were not. I believe that is the future of high tech immortality.
Re: Anti-aging stem cell treatment proves successful in early human trials
#67Earlier quoted context omitted.
Let's hope he's right. Life is a cycle and without death the world will be a very boring place.
Oh I'm sure there will be companies that provide a right to die for reasonable price (sized about 70-80 year salary I guess). Pity I'm not a writer, I think it is a good idea for anti-utopia about the world where people work to get a permission to die.
Re: Anti-aging stem cell treatment proves successful in early human trials
#68Earlier quoted context omitted.
Let's hope he's right. Life is a cycle and without death the world will be a very boring place.
Oh I'm sure there will be companies that provide a right to die for reasonable price (sized about 70-80 year salary I guess). Pity I'm not a writer, I think it is a good idea for anti-utopia about the world where people work to get a permission to die.
Re: Anti-aging stem cell treatment proves successful in early human trials
#69Earlier quoted context omitted.
A better way to put is that, without death we wouldn't have progressed as a race as much as we have done. We need new people with fresh ideas to come to top, take higher roles and make radical decisions. People living longer will stay in power longer and keep the status quo alive. In a longer stretch, conservationism, which grows like age, is an impediment for innovation and progress, IMHO.
I'm not sure about this argument. You could manage the issue in other ways eg enforced fixed terms for jobs. Also, it's difficult to predict how immortality would affect human psychology, let alone how the technology would work. Perhaps we will be able to 'freeze' someone in their mid to late twenties, at some optimal point of physical health, maturity and risk taking behaviour. I personally don't think we can take t…
Re: Anti-aging stem cell treatment proves successful in early human trials
#70Earlier quoted context omitted.
A better way to put is that, without death we wouldn't have progressed as a race as much as we have done. We need new people with fresh ideas to come to top, take higher roles and make radical decisions. People living longer will stay in power longer and keep the status quo alive. In a longer stretch, conservationism, which grows like age, is an impediment for innovation and progress, IMHO.
This makes the assumption that life is simply about progressing the human species. Progression to what though? One should aim to lead a happy life, of which making things better for the next generation is a byproduct.