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In a small trial, drugs seemed to rejuvenate the body’s ‘epigenetic clock’

nature.com

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Re: In a small trial, drugs seemed to rejuvenate the body’s ‘epigenetic clock’

#11

Post by DuskStar »

scottlocklin wrote: post #6

1) DHEA is not a diabetes med. In fact it's a steroid (not really an anabolic one, though it is a precursor to anabolics) and illegal in the EU. It is a substance which is lowered in older people, so older people supplement with it. 2) Metformin is a diabetes med, and it's used by antiaging enthusiasts independently and along with growth hormone 3) Fasting creates larger growth hormone spikes, and improves sugar clea…

> So does fasting, and it don't cost as much.

If a "rich old white dude" could get the health benefits of fasting for a bit of cash, a lot of them are going to pay it. Lifestyle changes are hard, while cash is 'easy' for a significant part of what I imagine to be the target market.

EDIT: Apparently I should clarify the "old white dude" part of this. The study in question consisted entirely of "9 white men between 51 and 65 years of age", and I consider it entirely possible that this particular cocktail only works for that demographic.

Re: In a small trial, drugs seemed to rejuvenate the body’s ‘epigenetic clock’

#12

Post by tyri_kai_psomi »

DuskStar wrote: post #11
scottlocklin wrote: post #6

1) DHEA is not a diabetes med. In fact it's a steroid (not really an anabolic one, though it is a precursor to anabolics) and illegal in the EU. It is a substance which is lowered in older people, so older people supplement with it. 2) Metformin is a diabetes med, and it's used by antiaging enthusiasts independently and along with growth hormone 3) Fasting creates larger growth hormone spikes, and improves sugar clea…

> So does fasting, and it don't cost as much. If a "rich old white dude" could get the health benefits of fasting for a bit of cash, a lot of them are going to pay it. Lifestyle changes are hard, while cash is 'easy' for a significant part of what I imagine to be the target market. EDIT: Apparently I should clarify the "old white dude" part of this. The study in question consisted entirely of "9 white men between 51…

or simply put: time is the real currency here, money isn't. Lifestyle changes require a significant time investment.

Re: In a small trial, drugs seemed to rejuvenate the body’s ‘epigenetic clock’

#13

Post by flyGuyOnTheSly »

It just dawned on me that getting old and dying is most likely an evolutionary chicken and egg problem.

If you didn't get old and die, evolution of your species would grind to a halt.

Getting old and dying is required for evolution to transpire.

I can't see any reason why it must be an absolute truth.

Re: In a small trial, drugs seemed to rejuvenate the body’s ‘epigenetic clock’

#14

Post by DuskStar »

Some people seem to think that there'll be a single cure for aging - a miracle drug, health regimen, or whatever flavor of the week happens to be in the news at the time. I think that if we get a cure for aging in our lifetimes it'll be things like this - killing aging with a thousand tiny cuts.

Assuming that this replicates and actually increases either lifespan or healthy lifespan, of course. (I'd rather have a 50s body until I'm 75 than continue aging past that point, even if I'm still dying at 76)

Re: In a small trial, drugs seemed to rejuvenate the body’s ‘epigenetic clock’

#16

Post by jhedwards »

flyGuyOnTheSly wrote: post #13

It just dawned on me that getting old and dying is most likely an evolutionary chicken and egg problem. If you didn't get old and die, evolution of your species would grind to a halt. Getting old and dying is required for evolution to transpire. I can't see any reason why it must be an absolute truth.

I would imagine there's a fundamental limitation in DNAs ability to be copied over and over without information loss.

Re: In a small trial, drugs seemed to rejuvenate the body’s ‘epigenetic clock’

#17

Post by SolarNet »

flyGuyOnTheSly wrote: post #13

It just dawned on me that getting old and dying is most likely an evolutionary chicken and egg problem. If you didn't get old and die, evolution of your species would grind to a halt. Getting old and dying is required for evolution to transpire. I can't see any reason why it must be an absolute truth.

Exactly.

Relatedly, we are still evolving, and social policy is part of what dictates this.

Re: In a small trial, drugs seemed to rejuvenate the body’s ‘epigenetic clock’

#18

Post by DuskStar »

flyGuyOnTheSly wrote: post #13

It just dawned on me that getting old and dying is most likely an evolutionary chicken and egg problem. If you didn't get old and die, evolution of your species would grind to a halt. Getting old and dying is required for evolution to transpire. I can't see any reason why it must be an absolute truth.

> If you didn't get old and die, evolution of your species would grind to a halt.

> Getting old and dying is required for evolution to transpire.

I don't think this is actually the case - only dying is required, not the getting old part. If a lion is still having no trouble catching zebras at 20, why shouldn't he stick around having kids? (The answer is probably something along the lines of "keeping this gene carrier at maximum health is significantly harder than spreading through fresh, if diluted, gene carriers" - though some species do seem to manage agelessness, most intriguingly the naked mole rat)

Re: In a small trial, drugs seemed to rejuvenate the body’s ‘epigenetic clock’

#19

Post by Wowfunhappy »

scottlocklin wrote: post #6

1) DHEA is not a diabetes med. In fact it's a steroid (not really an anabolic one, though it is a precursor to anabolics) and illegal in the EU. It is a substance which is lowered in older people, so older people supplement with it. 2) Metformin is a diabetes med, and it's used by antiaging enthusiasts independently and along with growth hormone 3) Fasting creates larger growth hormone spikes, and improves sugar clea…

> So, this (lousy, but interesting) study is basically "fasting by using drugs."

That sounds to me like a big deal, given that most people find fasting difficult (and unpleasant).

Re: In a small trial, drugs seemed to rejuvenate the body’s ‘epigenetic clock’

#20

Post by SolarNet »

jhedwards wrote: post #16
flyGuyOnTheSly wrote: post #13

It just dawned on me that getting old and dying is most likely an evolutionary chicken and egg problem. If you didn't get old and die, evolution of your species would grind to a halt. Getting old and dying is required for evolution to transpire. I can't see any reason why it must be an absolute truth.

I would imagine there's a fundamental limitation in DNAs ability to be copied over and over without information loss.

Sure, but we can correct for that, we have the ability to reliably store copies of the information in DNA (a person's full genome is only a few gigabytes) with error correction (or at least verification).
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