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Anti-aging movement

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"Anti-aging" redirects here. For skin care products, see Anti-aging product.

The anti-aging movement is a social movement devoted to eliminating or reversing aging, or reducing the effects of it.[1][2] A substantial portion of the attention of the movement is on the possibilities for life extension, but there is also interest in techniques such as cosmetic surgery which ameliorate the effects of aging rather than delay or defeat it.[3]

There are numerous scientists of this movement with different approaches. Two of the most popular proponents of the anti-aging movement include Ray Kurzweil, who says humanity can defeat aging through the advance of technology, allowing us to reach the longevity escape velocity,[4] and Aubrey de Grey, who says that the human body is a very complicated machine and, thus, can be repaired indefinitely.[5] Other scientists and significant contributors to the movement include molecular biologists, geneticists, and biomedical gerontologists such as Gary Ruvkun, Cynthia Kenyon, and Arthur D. Levinson. However, figures in the gerontology community in 2003 tried to distance their research from the perceived pseudoscience of the movement.[6]

Anti-aging medicine

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Main article: Anti-aging medicine

Anti-aging medicine has become a budding and rapidly growing medical specialty as physicians who initially sought treatment for themselves have received training and certification in its practice[1] by organizations such as the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine (A4M) co-founded by Dr Robert M. Goldman and Ronald Klatz.

Human growth hormone

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Central to anti-aging medicine is administration of human growth hormone.[7] Clinical studies have shown that low-dose growth hormone (GH) treatment for adults with GH deficiency changes the body composition by increasing muscle mass, decreasing fat mass, and increasing bone density and muscle strength. It also improves cardiovascular parameters (i.e. decrease of LDL cholesterol) and affects the quality of life without significant side effects.[8][9][10] However, it is also said to have potentially dangerous side effects when used in injectable form if proper protocols are not followed. It is not approved for use in healthy aging patients, though the restriction is occasionally sidestepped by means of a diagnosis of some injury, organic condition, or adult-growth-hormone deficiency[11] which may have resulted in reduced secretion of the hormone.[12]

Menopausal hormone drugs

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Administration of estrogen and other hormones such as progestin were popularized by the 1966 book Feminine Forever by Robert A. Wilson.[13] However, the increase of the use of estrogen was shown to be associated with an increased risk of cancer.[14] Later, in 2002, research into the long-term effects of estrogen on post-menopausal women, the Women's Health Initiative, produced evidence that there were serious side effects.[15] Physicians who prescribe the hormones now prescribe low doses of the drugs. Research into the long-term effects of hormone replacement therapy is continuing, with a 2017 Cochrane systematic review concluding that long-term use may decrease the risk of bone fractures or postmenopausal osteoporosis, but increase the risk of stroke, heart attacks, endometrial cancer, and breast cancer.[16] Hormone therapy is generally only recommended for postmenopausal women who are at a high risk of osteoporosis when non-hormonal treatments are not suitable.[16] Hormone therapy is not suitable or advised for treating cardiovascular disease, dementia, or for preventing cognitive decline in postmenopausal women.[16] The risks of long-term hormonal therapy for women under 50 years of age have not been determined.[16]

Senolytics

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This section is an excerpt from Senolytic.[edit]

A senolytic (from the words senescence and -lytic, "destroying") is among a class of small molecules under basic research to determine if they can selectively induce death of senescent cells and improve health in humans.[17] A goal of this research is to discover or develop agents to delay, prevent, alleviate, or reverse age-related diseases.[18][19] Removal of senescent cells with senolytics has been proposed as a method of enhancing immunity during aging.[20]

A related concept is "senostatic", which means to suppress senescence.[21]

Scientific approaches

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Biogerontology is a scientific discipline which has the same area of interest but, as a branch of gerontology, takes a more conservative approach.[22] Caloric restriction is a phenomenon introduced in anti-aging techniques which focuses on depletion of calories and taking the right amount of nutrients necessary for growth.[23]

Calorie restriction

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Calorie restriction (CR) refers to a dietary restriction that focuses on less calorie intake to increase longevity and reduce age-related disease in humans. Calorie restriction maintains a low calorie intake that helps to regulate the rate of aging and increases the youthfulness of an individual or animal.[24] Low calorie intake has directly been correlated to negative energy balance which promotes low body mass index (BMI) and comparatively high plasma dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) for improved life expectancy.[25] Calorie restriction has widely been practiced by pregnant women and people with pre-existing medical conditions such as diabetes. The right amount of calorie restriction help pregnant women to achieve positive weight gain whereas a significant drop in calorie intake can lead to hypothalamic alterations leading to long-term effects in the offspring.[26] Moderate CR in diabetic patients increases insulin sensitivity and reduces the amount of hepatic fat in obese individual and type 2 diabetes.[27] Long term CR in older animals results in stem cell function similar to that of the younger groups. The active stem cell function helps in enhanced recovery of the damaged skeletal muscle tissue, which is slower in older individuals compared to younger individuals.[28] CR in the United States has shown a prolonged life span in women compared to men as women tend to consume 25% fewer calories than men in their lifetime.[29] The statistical analysis of CR available for anti-aging movement in humans is insufficient to prove the prolonged lifespan associated with CR.

Mass movement

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A substantial fraction of older people, taking their cue from alternative medicine, purchase and use herbal supplements and other products which promise relief from the incidents and dangers of aging. However, many such products are unregulated, and can instead pose serious health risks.[30]

Certain billionaires have taken interest in the concept and invest funds in research for it.

Reception

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There are at least two opposite views on the prospects of anti-aging research and development. One group states that there is a great deal of over-heated rhetoric in use with respect to life extension with over-optimistic projections by its advocates. They also claim that there is little evidence that any significant breakthrough has been made, or is on the horizon.[31] Some state that this is largely due to a current lack of funding or interest in the issue.[32] A study of the commonly-used supplements and hormone treatments published in 2006 in the Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine showed that none of them are effective for extending life.[33] Another group notices that recent scientific successes in rejuvenation and extending the lifespan of model animals[34][failed verification] and discovery of a variety of species (including humans of advanced ages) having negligible senescence give hope to achieve negligible senescence (cancel aging) for younger humans, reverse ageing, or at least significantly delay it.

Though some scientists think curing aging is impossible, there are some criticisms of both the time frame life extensionists envision (the first, perhaps somewhat crude, treatments within the next several decades, or at least before the beginning of the 22nd century) and of whether curing aging is even desirable. Common criticisms of the idea of life extension are fears it will cause the world to be more overpopulated; however, de Grey counters that by saying that since menopause would also be delayed, women could wait longer to have children and, thus, the rate of growth would actually decline as a result. Also, the slowly growing population would buy centuries of time to figure out new places to live, such as space colonies.[35]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Mykytyn, Courtney Everts (February 2006). "Anti-aging medicine: A patient/practitioner movement to redefine aging". Social Science & Medicine. 62 (3): 643–653. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2005.06.021. ISSN 0277-9536. PMID 16040177.
  2. ^ Vincent, John (2013). "The Anti-Aging Movement". In Schermer, Maartje; Pinxten, Wim (eds.). Ethics, Health Policy and (Anti-) Aging: Mixed Blessings. Springer Netherlands. p. 30. ISBN 978-94-007-3870-6. There have been a number of social movements associated with the reappraisal of age-based social categories in the last thirty years. Two such developments are the focus of this chapter. They are the Third Age movement and the Anti-aging movement. These movements present contrasting perspectives on the culturally devalued status of old age; the former seeks to celebrate old age, the latter to eliminate it.
  3. ^ Landman, Beth (12 December 2016). "The Future of Forever Young: 12 of the Latest Anti-Aging Treatments You Can Now Try". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 28 December 2016. Retrieved 27 December 2016.
  4. ^ Hamilton, Craig. "Chasing Immortality—The Technology of Eternal Life". EnlightenNext. Archived from the original on June 6, 2012. Retrieved May 26, 2012.
  5. ^ "Who is Aubrey de Grey?". Singularity Symposium. Archived from the original on 2012-05-02. Maybe it is because of his background in computer science that Dr. de Grey perceives the human body as a very complicated machine. Therefore, he argues that aging is primarily an engineering problem. Thus once we grasp all the finer details of our biological structure then the problem of aging becomes one of maintenance and just like today we are capable to maintain vintage cars or airplanes indefinitely he believes that eventually we'll be able to do so with our bodies.
  6. ^ Binstock, Robert (2003). "The War on "Anti-Aging Medicine"". The Gerontologist. 43 (1): 4–14. doi:10.1093/geront/43.1.4. PMID 12604740. Leading members of the gerontological community have recently launched a war on anti-aging medicine, seeking to discredit what they judge to be fraudulent and harmful products and therapies, and to distinguish their research from what they regard as the pseudoscience of the anti-aging movement.
  7. ^ Ronald Klatz, Grow Young with HGH: The Amazing Medically Proven Plan to Reverse Aging Harper Paperbacks (May 8, 1998), trade paperback, 400 pages ISBN 0-06-098434-1 ISBN 978-0060984342
  8. ^ Alexopoulou O, Abs R, Maiter D (2010). "Treatment of adult growth hormone deficiency: who, why and how? A review". Acta Clinica Belgica. 65 (1): 13–22. doi:10.1179/acb.2010.002. PMID 20373593. S2CID 24874132.
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  11. ^ "Selling The Promise Of Youth" Archived January 4, 2010, at the Wayback Machine cover story Business Week March 20, 2006
  12. ^ Wilson, Duff (April 15, 2007). "Aging: Disease or Business Opportunity?". The New York Times. Retrieved December 13, 2022.
  13. ^ Robert A. Wilson, Feminine Forever, M. Evans and Company, Inc. (June 15, 1968), hardcover, ISBN 0-87131-049-X ISBN 978-0871310491
  14. ^ H Jick; A M Walker; K J Rothman (March 1980). "The epidemic of endometrial cancer: a commentary". American Journal of Public Health. 70 (3): 264–267. doi:10.2105/AJPH.70.3.264. PMC 1619376. PMID 7356090.
  15. ^ "Findings from the WHI Postmenopausal Hormone Therapy Trials". Women's Health Initiative. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Archived from the original on 2016-06-17. Retrieved 2009-12-13.
  16. ^ a b c d Marjoribanks, Jane; Farquhar, Cindy; Roberts, Helen; Lethaby, Anne; Lee, Jasmine (2017). "Long-term hormone therapy for perimenopausal and postmenopausal women". The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 1 (1): CD004143. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD004143.pub5. ISSN 1469-493X. PMC 6465148. PMID 28093732.
  17. ^ Childs BG, Durik M, Baker DJ, van Deursen JM (December 2015). "Cellular senescence in aging and age-related disease: from mechanisms to therapy". Nature Medicine. 21 (12): 1424–1435. doi:10.1038/nm.4000. PMC 4748967. PMID 26646499.
  18. ^ Kirkland JL, Tchkonia T (August 2015). "Clinical strategies and animal models for developing senolytic agents". Experimental Gerontology. 68: 19–25. doi:10.1016/j.exger.2014.10.012. PMC 4412760. PMID 25446976.
  19. ^ van Deursen JM (May 2019). "Senolytic therapies for healthy longevity". Science. 364 (6441): 636–637. Bibcode:2019Sci...364..636V. doi:10.1126/science.aaw1299. PMC 6816502. PMID 31097655.
  20. ^ Chambers ES, Akbar AN (2020). "Can blocking inflammation enhance immunity during aging?". The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. 145 (5): 1323–1331. doi:10.1016/j.jaci.2020.03.016. PMID 32386656.
  21. ^ Hu, Qinchao; Peng, Jianmin; Jiang, Laibo; Li, Wuguo; Su, Qiao; Zhang, Jiayu; Li, Huan; Song, Ming; Cheng, Bin; Xia, Juan; Wu, Tong (28 October 2020). "Metformin as a senostatic drug enhances the anticancer efficacy of CDK4/6 inhibitor in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma". Cell Death & Disease. 11 (10): 925. doi:10.1038/s41419-020-03126-0. PMC 7595194. PMID 33116117.
  22. ^ Fishman, Jennifer R. (2008). "Anti-aging science: The emergence, maintenance, and enhancement of a discipline". Journal of Aging Studies. 22 (4): 295–303. doi:10.1016/j.jaging.2008.05.010. PMC 3528075. PMID 23264719.
  23. ^ Everitt, Arthur V.; Couteur, DAVID G. Le (2007). "Life Extension by Calorie Restriction in Humans". Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 1114 (1): 428–433. Bibcode:2007NYASA1114..428E. doi:10.1196/annals.1396.005. ISSN 1749-6632. PMID 17717102. S2CID 30275713.
  24. ^ Sohal, Rajindar S.; Forster, Michael J. (2014-08-01). "Caloric restriction and the aging process: a critique". Free Radical Biology and Medicine. 73: 366–382. doi:10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2014.05.015. ISSN 0891-5849. PMC 4111977. PMID 24941891.
  25. ^ Bj, Willcox; Dc, Willcox; H, Todoriki; A, Fujiyoshi; K, Yano; Q, He; Jd, Curb; M, Suzuki (October 2007). "Caloric Restriction, the Traditional Okinawan Diet, and Healthy Aging: The Diet of the World's Longest-Lived People and Its Potential Impact on Morbidity and Life Span". Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 1114 (1): 434–455. Bibcode:2007NYASA1114..434W. doi:10.1196/annals.1396.037. PMID 17986602. S2CID 8145691.
  26. ^ Ramírez-López, María Teresa; Vázquez, Mariam; Bindila, Laura; Lomazzo, Ermelinda; Hofmann, Clementine; Blanco, Rosarío Noemí; Alén, Francisco; Antón, María; Decara, Juan; Arco, Rocío; Ouro, Daniel (2016-11-01). "Maternal Caloric Restriction Implemented during the Preconceptional and Pregnancy Period Alters Hypothalamic and Hippocampal Endocannabinoid Levels at Birth and Induces Overweight and Increased Adiposity at Adulthood in Male Rat Offspring". Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience. 10: 208. doi:10.3389/fnbeh.2016.00208. ISSN 1662-5153. PMC 5088205. PMID 27847471.
  27. ^ Larson-Meyer, D. Enette; Heilbronn, Leonie K.; Redman, Leanne M.; Newcomer, Bradley R.; Frisard, Madlyn I.; Anton, Steve; Smith, Steven R.; Alfonso, Anthony; Ravussin, Eric (2006-06-01). "Effect of Calorie Restriction With or Without Exercise on Insulin Sensitivity, β-Cell Function, Fat Cell Size, and Ectopic Lipid in Overweight Subjects". Diabetes Care. 29 (6): 1337–1344. doi:10.2337/dc05-2565. ISSN 0149-5992. PMC 2677812. PMID 16732018.
  28. ^ Cerletti, Massimiliano; Jang, Young C.; Finley, Lydia W.S.; Haigis, Marcia C.; Wagers, Amy J. (2012-05-04). "Short-term calorie restriction enhances skeletal muscle stem cell function". Cell Stem Cell. 10 (5): 515–519. doi:10.1016/j.stem.2012.04.002. ISSN 1934-5909. PMC 3561899. PMID 22560075.
  29. ^ Everitt, Arthur V.; Le Couteur, David G. (October 2007). "Life extension by calorie restriction in humans". Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 1114 (1): 428–433. Bibcode:2007NYASA1114..428E. doi:10.1196/annals.1396.005. ISSN 0077-8923. PMID 17717102. S2CID 30275713.
  30. ^ 'Health Products for Seniors: Archived 2010-01-06 at the Wayback Machine "Anti-Aging" Products Pose Danger for Physical and Economic Harm' report by the GAO September, 2001
  31. ^ Turner, Leigh (2004). "Biotechnology, bioethics and anti-aging interventions". Trends in Biotechnology. 22 (5): 219–221. doi:10.1016/j.tibtech.2004.03.008. PMID 15109806.
  32. ^ Pelletier, Dick. "Advances in medical technologies predicted for this decade". Positive Futurist. Archived from the original on March 18, 2013. Retrieved May 26, 2012.
  33. ^ Kamel, Nabil S; Julie Gammack; Oscar Cepeda; Joseph H Flaherty (2006). "Antioxidants and hormones as antiaging therapies: high hopes, disappointing results". Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine. 73 (12): 1049–1056, 1058. doi:10.3949/ccjm.73.12.1049. ISSN 0891-1150. PMID 17190308.
  34. ^ "Scientists' Open Letter on Aging Research". CureAging.org: Independent Open Letter in Support of Aging Research. Archived from the original on 2015-04-29.
  35. ^ Gavrilov, Leonid A.; Gavrilova, Natalia S. (April 2010). "Demographic Consequences of Defeating Aging". Rejuvenation Research. 13 (2–3): 329–334. doi:10.1089/rej.2009.0977. PMC 3192186. PMID 20426616.

Further reading

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