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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’

#21

Post by magna7 »

DuskStar wrote: post #14

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…

Centenarians have been shown to have increased healthspans. They still get the same diseases as everyone else, however they get them much later in life (90s, 100s). That's all I'd want. If we can get medical science to a point where healthily living to 100 is common, then that's a win for everyone and it'll save us a ton of money. The problem is, like you said, that it's unlikely to be some miracle drug; it's going to be small routines and habits throughout your life that will require willpower and discipline, so that'll exclude a lot of people unless we restructure society in a fundamentally different way.

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

#22

Post by theothermkn »

DuskStar wrote: post #14

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…

Aubrey de Grey has said numerous times that he suspects that if we were able to repair mithochondrial DNA, that has about a 10% chance of being all or most of the anti-aging puzzle, in his estimation. IIRC, he admits this is speculation. Still, he's no slouch in this layperson's book, so his statement gives me the warm fuzzies.

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

#23

Post by ericmcer »

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.

Maybe there were some early species that didn't die naturally, or lived for a very long time? Definitely an interesting theory.

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

#24

Post by whatshisface »

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.

No, only reproduction is required. If there was still an early Hominid walking around, we wouldn't be any dumber.

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

#25

Post by aflag »

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.

Hasn't it been doing so for billions of years now?

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

#26

Post by jostmey »

magna7 wrote: post #9

I'd wager that it's the metformin. Metformin inhibits pathways associated with mTOR (the growth signaling protein). When you inhibit this pathway, it tells the body to start the process of autophagy. It's the same process that occurs during fasting, and it's the same reason that the mTOR inhibitor Rapamycin has been shown to extend lifespan in mice and dogs. This is also why fasting has been shown to increase lifespa…

Biology is not that simple. There's not going to be a single magic compound. Slowing the aging process is massively complex and will probably require a cocktail of treatments

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

#27

Post by jlarocco »

rwj wrote: post #10

The sample size is so small, that the results are nearly meaningless.

Comments like this aren't helpful.

Literally nobody is claiming the results are solid evidence for anything other than that one small study had an interesting and unexpected result.

And the results aren't "nearly meaningless" - they're an indicator that maybe a larger study should be done. I doubt anybody gets funded for big studies shooting into the dark, so smaller "what if..." studies like this are valuable.

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

#28

Post by throwaway_law »

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.

Biological immortality in plants and animals isn't unheard of.

Take Jelly Fish, they are biologically immortal, been around 500 million years, not to bad. They were the first animals to evolve nervous systems, not sure the timeline of the biological immortality evolution, but they must have continued evolving because there are different species (some have evolved eyes and others not) and I believe all species are biologically immortal.

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

#29

Post by Amygaz »

I have no ef-inf clue why it was a total surprise. Metformim, is already known to affect in multiple ways the epigenetics, and the immune system.

Also the so-called epigenetic clock is based on the observation that as we age we are more methylated. Reversing this has not been shown to be true, but it was shown to improve certain functions, like our production of T cells.

This such a click-bait piss-poor paper I can’t believe it’s in Cell. There’s absolutely nothing new, and no proof of anything telling me they have reverse of stopped aging, or even a fraction of it.

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

#30

Post by zarkov99 »

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…

why white and dude? aren't there other kinds of rich people? and wouldn't they also pay?
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