Link: http://www.indian-ex...3/iin23020.html
Date: 10-22-00
Author:DADAN UPADHYAY
Source: Indian Express
Title: Pop a pill, grow young, live happily ever after
Pop a pill, grow young, live happily ever after
DADAN UPADHYAY
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MOSCOW, OCT 22: Gray hair, creaky joints and wrinkled skin are the nightmares of growing old. Ancient alchemists and modern scientists have experimented with chemicals to get the magic potion which will stop, or at least delay, the process of aging. Now, scientists in Russia claim they've got it.
Scientists working at the Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology in St Petersburg, have come up with new bioregulatory chemicals, extracted from the organs of a calf, that they claim can prolong life up to 110 years, keeping at bay aging disorders.
Besides extending the longevity, the chemicals expand the human reproduction cycle and add years to people's working capabilities, according to the scientists.
Gerontologist Vladimir Khavinson has led his team of researchers at the Institute for 25 years, conducting a series of experiments on mice, proving the effects of the new chemicals from the organs of a calf.
Last August, they presented their work to the World Congress of Gerontologists in St Petersburg. ``The numerous experiments on mice that my colleagues and I carried out proved that after taking the medicine, the animals' life expectancy increased by around 30 to 40 per cent,'' Khavinson said. ``Furthermore, the mice were able to reproduce at an age which, if translated into human terms, would be 60 or 70 years,'' he said.
After successful tests on mice, the medicine was administered to the offering candidates, which proved effective with no side-effects, scientists claimed.
Russia's energy monopoly Gazprom got so interested in the medicine that it has started offering the new preparation to its employees, following successful tests which started in 1995-96.
The head of the Gazprom's health department Sergei Okhotnikov said that those using the medicine have obtained good results. ``Their health improved, and the sick-lists got shorter,'' he said.
Copyright © 2000 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
