Forever Young

Found that fountain of youth yet?

Me neither.

But scientists are hot on the trail of developing ways to fight the proverbial clock.

Take, for example, the following researchers and their anti-aging theories, as outlined by a recent article in The Economist.

1. Aubrey de Grey’s “Seven Deadly Things”

By managing the seven components of aging (basically a variation of cell loss, gene mutation, and “junk” accumulation inside out outside the cells) we can halt the physical effects of old age. Many of these components are caused by “oxidation.” Oxidation is what happens when oxygen molecules meant to break down the sugar in our bodies veer off and instead oxidize (thus damage) other molecules, like our DNA and proteins. These misguided molecules are called “free radicals” and can be stopped in their tracks by, you guessed it, anti-oxidants.

Anti-oxidants are found in many common vitamins, including Vitamin B and C. But clinical tests are few, and many argue vitamins are not strong or effective enough to seriously fight aging on their own.


2. Leonard Hayflick and the “Hayflick Limit”

The cells in our body are genetically “locked” to stop them from reproducing. This locking mechanism is very important, because the over-reproduction of cells is what causes cancer. One such lock, discovered by Leonard Hayflick, places a limit on the number of times a cell divides.

On the other hand, stem cells can multiply indefinitely without causing damage. In theory, we could replace old, damaged cells with these self-renewing stem cells for the human body equivalent of a car tune-up. But this sort of procedure is a long ways away and requires years of development and trials.


3. David Sinclair and “Caloric Restriction”

A number of animal experiments show that limiting the amount of food intake to near-starvation levels can increase one’s life expectancy.

Here’s how it works; when your body is starving, it goes into “survival mode.”

All of your energy is spent on things that are essential to keeping you alive, like your respiratory and circulatory systems. Other bodily functions that aren’t necessary for survival are put on hold as not to waste energy. That’s why women who are starving don’t menstruate; their reproduction system isn’t as important as others.

But you’d have to be pretty desperate to go for this method. What’s the point of living longer if you can’t enjoy simple pleasures like some fine cheese and wine?

After all, don’t these, and most other things in life, get better with age?

-- Holley Simmons reporting!