Live data from Hacker News

Anti-Aging: State of the Art

lesswrong.com

1–10 of 49 posts

Re: Anti-Aging: State of the Art

#2
In my opinion the field of anti-aging is currently under-appreciated by a factor much greater than that of just about any other area, and this article is a great introduction to help garner interest in the field.

A minor improvement in slowing aging would save more years of life than curing cancer, and it's unfortunate that a lot of the most exciting discoveries and research are under-reported on (meanwhile, some of the least-exciting or relevant findings get significant hype by media outlets on occasion, die to seemingly random clickbait-ification algorithms).

Re: Anti-Aging: State of the Art

#3
post #2

In my opinion the field of anti-aging is currently under-appreciated by a factor much greater than that of just about any other area, and this article is a great introduction to help garner interest in the field. A minor improvement in slowing aging would save more years of life than curing cancer, and it's unfortunate that a lot of the most exciting discoveries and research are under-reported on (meanwhile, some of…

Let's also not forget some preventative measures. E.g.:

WHO estimates that around 7 million people die every year from exposure to polluted air.

https://www.who.int/news-room/air-pollution

Re: Anti-Aging: State of the Art

#4
As someone already totally on board with ending aging, I found this article not terribly helpful.

My main questions are "what should I be doing right now to stop my own body from aging?" and "when will more stuff be available for me to do that is not currently?"

The article didn't help much in this regard. As far as I can tell, there are a number of clinical trials I should watch to see if those drugs work in humans? But nothing actually confirmed yet? I sure hope they do pan out, but given how many treatments in general medical science cross the mice/primate-to-human barrier, I'm not feeling optimistic.

Note that in the article itself, the first comment and its replies get into this a bit, and the author does advise taking certain drugs right now. Maybe I'll try to convince my doctor to prescribe metformin...

Re: Anti-Aging: State of the Art

#5
My estimated lifespan is probably close to 90 years, but very likely the last 15 to 20 will be marked by health issues of increasing difficulty. If the various modalities of life extension leave the shape of the healthy/sick profile but simply stretch it out another 30 years, I'm not sure I'd be happy about that. If it could simply remove sickness and I died healthy at 90, say of a massive stroke, that would be a great improvement over my current expected trajectory.

That leads to this thought: if anti-aging can't simply remove sickness but just stretches out the existing healthy/sick profile to say 120 years, one way to achieve what I want would be to accept the anti-aging drugs and enjoy good health, then kill myself at 90.

Lots of people will be horrified by the thought, but it is still an absolutely better outcome than not taking drugs and following the usual course of events. Also, my approach circumvents many (but not all) of the negative consequences that would occur if the anti-aging technology works and everyone uses it.

Re: Anti-Aging: State of the Art

#6
post #3
post #2

In my opinion the field of anti-aging is currently under-appreciated by a factor much greater than that of just about any other area, and this article is a great introduction to help garner interest in the field. A minor improvement in slowing aging would save more years of life than curing cancer, and it's unfortunate that a lot of the most exciting discoveries and research are under-reported on (meanwhile, some of…

Let's also not forget some preventative measures. E.g.: WHO estimates that around 7 million people die every year from exposure to polluted air. https://www.who.int/news-room/air-pollution

Definitely, I don't want to understate how important things like that are; but I feel like the average person is already aware of the need to dedicate significant resources to improve air quality, and would even be happy if their tax money went to this cause. But yet I cannot say the same about anti-aging, and I think very few people are even aware that it is a real field with extreme potential to begin with.

Re: Anti-Aging: State of the Art

#7
I find majority of anti-aging articles to be way too optimistic. Consider the following:

We still cannot treat many well understood diseases, including tuberous sclerosis, allergies, asthma, etc. We don't know the exact cause of multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, type 2 diabetes, etc, despite studying those diseases for decades. We can't help you keep the color of your hair or regrow your missing teeth, despite tons of money dedicated to such therapies by the industry.

And articles like these talk about combating aging - a combination of development, damage, and likely an evolutionary mechanism, within 10-15 years. I cannot help but be skeptical.

Re: Anti-Aging: State of the Art

#8
post #2

In my opinion the field of anti-aging is currently under-appreciated by a factor much greater than that of just about any other area, and this article is a great introduction to help garner interest in the field. A minor improvement in slowing aging would save more years of life than curing cancer, and it's unfortunate that a lot of the most exciting discoveries and research are under-reported on (meanwhile, some of…

Further, most serious diseases like cancer and heart disease that are major issues in developed nations are highly age related. Progress on one front will likely lead to improvements on others.

Re: Anti-Aging: State of the Art

#10

I find majority of anti-aging articles to be way too optimistic. Consider the following: We still cannot treat many well understood diseases, including tuberous sclerosis, allergies, asthma, etc. We don't know the exact cause of multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, type 2 diabetes, etc, despite studying those diseases for decades. We can't help you keep the color of your hair or regrow your missing teeth, despite…

I imagine dentures and hair dye killed most motivation to solve the two problems you listed. Everything else, I agree with.
Post reply on HN