aging treatment?

Discussion in 'Human Science' started by science man, Jun 12, 2011.

  1. I was told by a friend of mine a long time ago that there was a treatment being worked on that would make a person live for hundreds years. Is that true? Is there anything being worked on that would make the aging process slow down or better yet, stop?
     
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  3. cosmictraveler Be kind to yourself always. Valued Senior Member

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  5. Skeptical Registered Senior Member

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    The short answer is no.

    To date, nothing has been found that will slow, stop or reverse the ageing process. Lots of people think caloric restriction will slow ageing, but this has only been shown on animals, not humans. Enough societies exist where caloric restriction is part of normal life, and no longevity increase occurs, that I tend to this it probably has little effect on human ageing.

    The greatest lifespan is enjoyed by the people of Okinawa, with an average of 84. However, this is less than the average for tertiary graduates in most western countries, so more can be achieved by simply taking care of yourself.

    I do not believe that there is yet, any way of increasing lifespan over that allotted by your genetics. However, most people die before they reach their potential. You can avoid dying early through good diet, exercise, not smoking, and all the other factors related to healthy living. None of these things will make you live longer than your genetic potential, but they give you a longer and better life than if you did not do them.
     
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  7. KilljoyKlown Whatever Valued Senior Member

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    Actually the answer is yes, people are working on the problem of slowing the aging process. The one problem that seems to be the most promising line of research is in increasing the number of times cell division can take place or to slow down the process of cell division. In humans the cells max out at about 50 divisions then they just die. The thing that makes people go through the aging process is that the body cells reach that limit at different times which can stretch out over years.

    I believe in the wear an tear process. The less wear an tear your put your body through, the longer you will live. Having said that I believe when you stress the body by getting sick or maintaining poor nutritional habits or going out of your way by using party drugs and alcohol. You stress different parts of your body which cause the cells to divide more frequently than they normally would. So lets say your liver gets stressed to a point where your liver cells reach their 50 divides 10 years before the rest of your body does? (Oh Well)!

    The current research suggest that every time your cells divide they have a chance of losing bits and pieces from the ends of the DNA strands and the more times the cells have already divided the greater the chance of losing bits and pieces. They are working out why this happens and are testing the use of certain types of RNA that can prevent and even repair the already damaged cells. Something about resetting the cell clocks so they act like young cell again, so if your cells are averaging about 30 divides and they all get reset and start the count over again. Well you can do the math.

    I think I remember this is expected to happen within the next 30 years. Damn! Even if I could afford it, it probably won't happen fast enough for me?
     
  8. Skeptical Registered Senior Member

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    KK

    The fact that people are researching ageing does not mean any remedial treatment that works will be forthcoming any time soon.

    And I am afraid your wear and tear speculation is not borne out by facts. Quite the opposite. Since the human body is adaptive and responds to changes, it may well be that wear and tear actually helps to avoid an early death.

    For example : if you exercise vigorously, it causes damage to the body. People who pump iron have had muscle biopsies done, showing that breakdown products from muscle destruction are present immediately after that exercise. Yet pumping iron increases muscle mass and helps with an overall exercise program that improves health and longevity. It appears that when the human body is damaged, it may, in the process of repair, actually make itself stronger.
     
  9. KilljoyKlown Whatever Valued Senior Member

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    I should have said abnormal wear an tear such as illness and prolonged abuse. Obviously the body was designed to handle exercise. We could also say cancer cells don't have a limit on the number of times they can divide. So maybe that's not a good thing to be looking into. But I do think it's only a matter of time and knowledge before we beat the problem.

    If it does happen, how will that affect life on this planet. Let's just say if the average age rises to 300 years, what new problems will that cause? If we take 7 billion people and give them all a 300 year life span. We will need to have a lot less children running around. But giving the Einsteins of the world much longer lives might make an incredible impact. Also people with longer lives will value them more and maybe less willing to go to war or risk a crime that might get them killed.
     
  10. Read-Only Valued Senior Member

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    Actually, human psychology works in the exact opposite fashion: the more of something you have, the less you try to conserve it; the less you have, the more you try to conserve it.
     
  11. Rav Valued Senior Member

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    Check out Aubrey de Grey.

    Here's a quick presentation he gave.
     
  12. KilljoyKlown Whatever Valued Senior Member

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    Sense no one has a 300 year life span at this time, we won't really know for sure will we. But we absolutely would know that a life sentence in prison would have a new meaning. But that brings to mind another problem of longer lives. As a part of society the thought of paying taxes to keep criminals locked up for life needs to be revisited.
     
  13. KilljoyKlown Whatever Valued Senior Member

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    Good presentation, however if a 1000 year lifespan is ever possible, we really do need to talk about what to do with all the career criminals. Also when a population has much fewer children, they become a lot more valuable than they already are. So what would you do with a child molester that could live for a 1000 years?
     
  14. Actually what you say here makes me think that we'll be able to live forever!!! YAHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!
     
  15. Read-Only Valued Senior Member

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    We can certainly make a HIGHLY educated guess based on exactly what I said before. Contrary to what you said earlier, just thin about it - the more cash you have in your pocket, the more likely you are to spend some. The less gas you have in your car, the less likely you are to make an unnecessary trip.

    Besides, when making practically any decision, few people do so based on how long they expect to live. And that's especially true of the younger group who are PRECISELY the ones that CHOOSE to go fight in wars. The prevalent thinking is always that it will be the other guy that gets killed, not me.
     
  16. madanthonywayne Morning in America Registered Senior Member

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    But not every part of the body can repair itself. Break your neck or suffer an ischemic attack of the optic nerve and you'll learn how limited our ability to repair nerves is.

    Also your heart, kidneys, limbs, etc have a very limited ability to repair themselves. Even the liver has it's limits. Alcoholics don't make their livers stronger by continuing to drink, do they?
     
  17. Fraggle Rocker Staff Member

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    As I have posted several times before (and this is not my own original thought), you can give up unhealthy food, all drugs and deleterious habits, and instead take up jogging, health food and wholesome habits. There is no guarantee that this will make your life any longer, but it will sure as hell feel like it.

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  18. KilljoyKlown Whatever Valued Senior Member

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    Except for the fact societies thinking will change a lot. May be people won't want to give up having kids, which means killing people off in wars might be a good way to make room for more kids. I'm sure everybody reading this thread could come up some very serious problems that will result when people start living longer.

    Anyway I can't really argue the point your trying to make. All I can do is speculate the same as you, and at the moment it doesn't seem like a very important point.
     
  19. KilljoyKlown Whatever Valued Senior Member

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    Maybe you won't feel like living a longer life if you have to give up all the things you like doing. But you do sort of make a point in that just having a longer life without health and quality isn't much to look forward to.
     
  20. KilljoyKlown Whatever Valued Senior Member

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    I'm not sure how old you are right now, but holding your breath expecting the best could turn out bad for you. But you could prepare a bit. I recommend becoming as rich as possible so that you will have more resources to work with when the time comes.
     
  21. What do you mean by resources? Do you mean that I better prepare to have enough money to get the procedure done? I will not say my age, but I won't be dead or elderly in the next 30 years.
     
  22. Skeptical Registered Senior Member

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    It really does not matter what de Grey says. He is still in the stage of offering speculations. These may prove to be correct or may prove to be a load of hogwash. No-one at this point in time can say.

    The point is that, so far, no treatment, therapy, drug or process can stop ageing, reverse ageing or even slow it down. The best we can do is simply prevent the causes of premature death, through healthy living.

    Perhaps in the future, some researcher will come up with a 'magic bullet'. Perhaps not. We do not know. The best advice to all so far is to engage in healthy living. Good diet. Regular exercise. No smoking. Alcohol in moderation. Good stress management, and good relaxation. Good social life etc.

    While Fraggle may say you only feel like you are living longer, in fact this type of healthy living improves your physical and mental fitness, and improves your quality of life also. That is probably a more important factor than simply living longer.
     
  23. Stoniphi obscurely fossiliferous Valued Senior Member

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    Those thingies that keep your DNA intact until they crap out are called telemeres. They are sorta like the ends on shoe laces that keep them from coming unraveled. The chemical that preserves the telemeres is called telemerase. If you have enough telemerase, your telemeres will not shorten each time the cell divides so it does not reach senescence as rapidly as it would otherwise. This is how serious athletes can continue building muscle into their 90's.

    Runners who average 50 miles a week produce much more telemerase than those like Frag who have a sedentary lifestyle, so the telemeres on their bodies muscular cells do not shorten with each cell division. Anecdotal evidence is that many of these long distance runners live much longer than most folks do and are not just healthy but very happy.

    As I have stated here often, I enjoy the heck out of a healthy lifestyle and serious exercise program. I like it a whole lot, am having a great time and am happy as a clam at high tide.

    ...and it doesn't just seem like it - I am having a great time.

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