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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’

#71

Post by toomuchtodo »

NeoBasilisk wrote: post #70
toomuchtodo wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Metformin is fairly safe as far as pharma goes; it requires a high dosage to be toxic, and the primary side effect is gastrointestinal distress. It's also a cheap generic (~5 cents/pill, costs me $2/month). It would be unfair to lump it in with the opioid epidemic, considering the differences. Would you not at least try to live a bit longer for only $25/year and a once a day pill?

Oh, I already have IBS, so that's a hard pass for me.

Doesn't happen to everyone, and if does occur, it usually subsides after a week, but I would not recommend to someone who has IBS.

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

#74

Post by chiefalchemist »

Wowfunhappy wrote: post #19
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).

> "That sounds to me like a big deal, given that most people find fasting difficult"

They also find hospitalization "difficult" but that doesn't stop them from OD'ing on sugar and junk food. It's not a matter of difficulty. It's a matter of priority. We (in the USA) live in a culture that devalues the personal responsibility to personal health.

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

#75

Post by WhoBeI »

zarkov99 wrote: post #46
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 a mutation occurred in an individual such that it would not age, while everything else remained the same, that individual would have more reproductive opportunities and so would its offspring, but there would still be differential success, that is not all individuals would reproduce at the same rate. So you would still have reproduction, heredity and differential reproductive success. So evolution would continue.…

Buildup of damage due to radiation, chemicals and the like would introduce more errors/damage into offspring.

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

#76

Post by RandomTisk »

arcticbull wrote: post #57
Wowfunhappy wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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).

Fasting is easy and fun, you just have to work up to it. You can just go from zero to not eating for a week. Building up your tolerance to it takes a bit, like anything else, but when you do it improves mental acuity, gets you a general sense of well-being and energy too.

Have you experienced additional mental acuity/focus first hand?

Fasting for 24-36 hours for me isn't bad. But days 2 to 3 when I do a 3 day fast I find it extremely difficult to concentrate/focus on anything difficult. By day 3 my energy is usually shot as well and I just don't want to do anything but watch tv.

If anyone has advice beyond sugar I'd love to hear it.

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

#77

Post by arcticbull »

RandomTisk wrote: post #76
arcticbull wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fasting is easy and fun, you just have to work up to it. You can just go from zero to not eating for a week. Building up your tolerance to it takes a bit, like anything else, but when you do it improves mental acuity, gets you a general sense of well-being and energy too.

Have you experienced additional mental acuity/focus first hand? Fasting for 24-36 hours for me isn't bad. But days 2 to 3 when I do a 3 day fast I find it extremely difficult to concentrate/focus on anything difficult. By day 3 my energy is usually shot as well and I just don't want to do anything but watch tv. If anyone has advice beyond sugar I'd love to hear it.

Yeah, I've done up to 7 days before, but I do drink huge quantities of black coffee every day and that by no means ends when I fast haha.

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

#78

Post by arcticbull »

kharak wrote: post #69
arcticbull wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fasting is easy and fun, you just have to work up to it. You can just go from zero to not eating for a week. Building up your tolerance to it takes a bit, like anything else, but when you do it improves mental acuity, gets you a general sense of well-being and energy too.

Uh, do you mean two weeks of only water? Do you do this for weight loss? Do you work out? I would be very afraid to mess-up my metabosm. How do you prevent that?

I've done up to a week before, it doesn't really change much IME, but I'm no doctor.

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

#79

Post by darkerside »

jostmey wrote: post #26
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

Why do you say that? Biology is usually very simple. Eat food, live. Don't eat food, die. Drink water, live. Don't drink water, die.

Just because you don't happen to know the answer doesn't mean the answer is complicated.

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

#80

Post by nikkwong »

RandomTisk wrote: post #76
arcticbull wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fasting is easy and fun, you just have to work up to it. You can just go from zero to not eating for a week. Building up your tolerance to it takes a bit, like anything else, but when you do it improves mental acuity, gets you a general sense of well-being and energy too.

Have you experienced additional mental acuity/focus first hand? Fasting for 24-36 hours for me isn't bad. But days 2 to 3 when I do a 3 day fast I find it extremely difficult to concentrate/focus on anything difficult. By day 3 my energy is usually shot as well and I just don't want to do anything but watch tv. If anyone has advice beyond sugar I'd love to hear it.

Are you supplementing with electrolytes? You need magnesium citrate + salt + potassium. Without that I can't achieve fasts longer than 48 hours.
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