Hi Longecity,
I've recently made a push into advocacy, and as part of that, I'm talking to everyone I can about the coming longevity revolution. For anyone who showed an interest, I promised an email with my top ten advances of 2017. I just sent it to 23 people and I thought I would share it with you. Not sure this is the right place, but here goes...
I'm also very curious as to what you think were the biggest advances of 2017!
Chris
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Hello!
So, as promised, here are my Top Ten Longevity Advances of 2017 – a very small snapshot of current longevity research, as there were many more interesting studies I had to leave out. I have tried to keep it as simple and non-technical as possible, however if you wish to get lost down the rabbit hole, I have provided all of the necessary links. Also, if you wish to read any of the original scientific papers, I have PDFs of most of them & can send them to you.
Enjoy!
Please feel free to forward this email to anyone who might be interested…
1. Senolytics – the removal of senescent cells (cells which have stopped functioning correctly causing damage to the body and which accumulate with age). This very new field of medicine actually reverses some forms of ageing – just take a look at the photos of the mouse below!
Before Senolytic Treatment After Senolytic Treatment (same mouse!)
Not only did they re-grow coloured hair, but they tripled their running distance and their kidney function returned to youthful levels: https://www.scienced...70323141414.htm
A very good overview of this area can be found here: https://www.nature.c...e-cells-1.22872
Even more excitingly, Senolytics is entering human clinical testing and if the human results even partially replicate the results in mice, expect this to be making front page news in the next year or two. And if things go really well, this could be available to us within 5 years, though some crazy/brave people have already jumped the gun (see # 9 below).
2. Stem Cells for Frailty – Everyone has heard of the potential of Stem Cells. Well, 2017 marked the first time Stem Cells were used to treat a symptom of ageing (in humans not mice), with very promising results. Not only that, but it is rapidly moving through clinical testing and could be available to the public, if all goes well, within five years!
Phase 2a trial of Autologous Mesenchymal Stem cells for frailty: https://www.ncbi.nlm...pubmed/28977399
https://www.leafscie...-treat-frailty/
3. Hypothalamus Stem Cell replacement – Sticking with Stem Cells, it was found that replenishing a small sub-population of Stem Cells in a small region of the brain increased mouse lifespan. Turns out those missing Stem Cells release good molecules (exosomes) to the rest of the body.
https://www.nature.c...in-mice-1.22367
https://www.scienced...70726132107.htm
4. Rapamycin – The first drug proven to extend the lifespan of a mammal (mouse, 2009) & proven to work in every animal model tested. It is the most robust anti-ageing treatment available today & last week I persuaded my parents to join me in trying it out later this year (need to order it from India without a prescription). In a 2014 study it improved elderly people’s response to a flu vaccination by 20%. The good news continued in 2017 with the first indications of efficacy in a large mammal (dog):
http://q13fox.com/20...ink-they-might/
https://www.nature.c...586-017-08387-y
https://www.ncbi.nlm...les/PMC5411365/
And a further slew of results from mice in regards to Alzheimer’s, Arterial Functioning, Osteoporosis, Ovary Lifespan, Periodontitis & Stem Cell Exhaustion.
5. NAD+ & precursors such as Nicotinamide Riboside (NR) – NAD+ is a molecule the body uses to help repair itself amongst other things and which declines with age. NR is a novel form of Vitamin B3 which can boost the levels of NAD+ and which has recently become available as a supplement. I ordered some for my parents at the beginning of last year & I started taking it myself last week. A very good scientific/technical overview of this field in PDF form from my Dropbox: NAD+ in Aging.
In 2017 there weren’t many new results from animal models (Liver Regeneration), however the first in human clinical results came out focusing on safety and the ability of NR to raise levels of NAD+:
https://www.ncbi.nlm...les/PMC5718430/
And another of NR combined with Pterostilbene (from blueberries)
https://www.ncbi.nlm...les/PMC5701244/
6. Spermidine (guess where it was first discovered… ) – Spermidine is a molecule which turns on the recycling process (autophagy) inside cells. This is extremely beneficial & in 2016 it was shown to considerably lengthen the lifespan of mice, even when administered in old age. The molecule is found in many foodstuffs such as broccoli, mushrooms, aged cheese & whole grains. Wheat germ has the highest concentration of Spermidine amongst food and I started adding it to my diet at the beginning of last year. The good news continued in 2017, with a second study confirming its life extending properties as well as other studies showing benefits to the heart, liver and for lowering blood pressure. Human studies are also underway.
7. Combination Treatments - Ageing is not a single phenomenon, but rather a multifactorial process. By the same token there is not going to be a single treatment against it. Instead, there will be a multitude of treatments which when taken together will slow down, stop and even reverse ageing. Ageing researchers have however by and large only been testing individual treatments. A notable exception in 2016 was the discovered synergy between Rapamycin & Metformin which produced greater gains than either alone. Therefore, I was thrilled to come across this pre-publication paper which tested various combinations of drugs in worms and flies. The combination of Rapamycin, Rifapicin & Allatoin produced the greatest maximum lifespan extension ever seen in those animal models with an increase of 76%!
http://longevityrepo...a-drug-cocktail
https://www.biorxiv....153205.full.pdf
8. Genetic mutation in a group of humans shown to increase lifespan by seven years -Scientists have been hunting for bona fide human longevity genes for a very long time and in 2017 they finally found one in a group of Amish in Indiana. Although technically a loss-of-function mutation rather than any new gene, it still seems to give carriers seven years of additional longevity:
https://www.scienced...71115152727.htm
https://news.northwe...ntain-of-youth/
9. Private Initiatives & Self-Experimenters – Although medical science is amazing, it can take a long time for discoveries to translate into clinical practice. With the recent anti-ageing progress shown, some private groups & individuals have decided to take maters into their own hands. 2017 saw at least two initiatives launched which aimed to start trials of treatments such as Rapamycin & Senolytics, and to publish the results:
1. Better Humans: http://www.betterhumans.com/index.html
2. The Society for the Rescue of our Elders: https://www.rescueelders.org/ Here is an edited video of the founder giving a presentation about this and showcasing the enthusiasm around current age reversal: https://www.youtube....h?v=z44di2AEWz4 (28 mins)
There are also some brave or foolhardy individuals testing out experimental treatments on themselves. For example, trying out senolytic compounds (FOXO4-DRI – used in the mouse pictures above) or blood born factors such as GDF11 which are higher in young people.
http://www.longecity...tide-group-buy/
Steve Perry’s GDF11 presentation: https://www.youtube....h?v=xqxOl7rWN5U (30mins, from 4:50 min mark)
10. Juvenescence – Investing in the age of Longevity (Jim Mellon & Al Chalabi) - Not a scientific advance, but an indication of a change in investor sentiment and a proliferation in private companies beginning to work in this field. As this field is still chronically underfunded, any influx of private capital is highly significant. If normal investors believe that there is a chance of a ROI by investing in this field, then that represents a sea change, and an indication that the field is moving into the mainstream. The more funding there is, the faster these transformative medicines and treatments will reach the market. The author, Jim Mellon, is a very well respected and influential investor, so it is significant that he wrote a book on this subject. I just bought the book in London last week and glancing through it I was pleasantly surprised, because although it does contain investment advice, it mainly focuses on the latest longevity science and is an excellent introduction to the whole field. https://www.juvenescence-book.com/
Bonus comedy breakthrough:
THC restores cognitive functioning in elderly mice - As you may know THC is the main psychoactive ingredient in Cannabis, so it was most amusing to find out that very low (non-psychoactive) doses improved cognition in elderly mice. To no one’s surprise, it worsened cognition in younger mice…
https://www.scienced...70508112400.htm
https://www.newscien...-ageing-at-bay/
& Finally, an honorary mention of the top breakthrough of 2016, which occurred at the tail end of the year – the transient use of Yamanaka factors, which are used to create Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPSCs), to rejuvenate adult mice:
https://www.salk.edu...se-signs-aging/
http://www.cell.com/...8674(16)31664-6
Addendum:
If you are interested in finding out more, here are some sites to check out:
https://joshmitteldo...cienceblog.com/
http://www.longecity.org/forum/ - a great place to discuss anything & everything related to longevity, supplements etc which I have joined as a full member. Started posting last year under the moniker “Chris Pollyanna” due to my inveterate optimism…
If you are interested in helping speed up the arrival of the first effective anti-ageing treatments, then you could do a lot worse than to donate to the following institutions & initiatives. Despite the massive amount of progress being made, the field remains chronically underfunded and any donations received will go further than if the money were channelled to say cancer or Alzheimer’s research.
https://www.buckinstitute.org/
http://www.sens.org/ (I have set up a monthly donation to them)
http://www.betterhumans.com/index.html
Also, as mentioned before please let me know if you are interested in reading any of the scientific publications mentioned above – I have PDFs of most of them.
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I hope this was of some interest to you… I certainly enjoyed putting it together!
As mentioned in my previous email, I will be starting a monthly series of emails highlighting any noteworthy advances of the preceding month. I promise they will be much shorter! The next one will also include my top science based tips for what you can be doing now to increase your odds of making it to the longevity revolution. However, if you don’t want to receive any more, please let me know.
Lots of Love,
Chris
Attached Files
Edited by Chris Pollyanna, 10 January 2018 - 01:12 AM.