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Experimental Drug Targeting Alzheimer's Disease Shows Anti-Aging Effects (nextbigfuture.com)
schwit1 writes with news that researchers at the Salk Institute have found that an experimental drug candidate aimed at combating Alzheimer's disease has a host of unexpected anti-aging effects in animals. Says the article:
The Salk team expanded upon their previous development of a drug candidate, called J147, which takes a different tack by targeting Alzheimer's major risk factor–old age. In the new work, the team showed that the drug candidate worked well in a mouse model of aging not typically used in Alzheimer's research. When these mice were treated with J147, they had better memory and cognition, healthier blood vessels in the brain and other improved physiological features.
"Initially, the impetus was to test this drug in a novel animal model that was more similar to 99 percent of Alzheimer's cases," says Antonio Currais, the lead author and a member of Professor David Schubert's Cellular Neurobiology Laboratory at Salk. "We did not predict we'd see this sort of anti-aging effect, but J147 made old mice look like they were young, based upon a number of physiological parameters."
"Initially, the impetus was to test this drug in a novel animal model that was more similar to 99 percent of Alzheimer's cases," says Antonio Currais, the lead author and a member of Professor David Schubert's Cellular Neurobiology Laboratory at Salk. "We did not predict we'd see this sort of anti-aging effect, but J147 made old mice look like they were young, based upon a number of physiological parameters."
I've seen the documentaries. This can only lead to one thing.
The zombie apocalypse.
Worth looking at the actual article, especially the before and after pic they've included ...
I can't wait for them to try this on Humans! Any idea why they named several of the mice 'Algernon'?
End of life care is expensive and ineffectual because it is targeting the symptoms of the problem, not the underlying problem, which is age. Eventually, the technology will be at the point that it will just make more economic sense to have people preemptively reduce aging instead of going to the doctor for an age related illness.
Yes, people will have to work longer but you will not work yourself to death to save up for retirement (just for the occasional break). There are plenty of problems in the world, so having more able people to address those problems is probably a good thing. Also, people will put off having kids longer and everyone is going to start to care a lot more about the "longterm" of things. Seems like a positive direction for humanity. . .
Sdelat' Ameriku velikoy Snova!
If you can't afford it, just keep walking — you aren't any worse off than before.
Rich people begin to live (much) longer — CEOs, Senators, judges, and generals alike do not retire restricting career-growths of their underlings. Similar effects in families, with (grand)children never seeing the inheritance. Official retirement age raised (very) high.
A movement springs up denouncing the procedure as somehow unethical — while the Bible's long-living characters suddenly seem less implausible.
A separate movement springs up to demand "free" dosage for everyone — told, there is not enough for all, they demand none get it and proceed to destroy what little stock there is. Fortunately, a break-through — its development funded by the cash windfall from the millionaire "early adopters" — allows to produce enough of the stuff to add it to water supply (in developed countries).
Secret e-mails with government-officials discussing these very predictions and considerations are leaked and discussed by the media as awesome forethought by some and evil conspiracy by others.
Yet another movement begins to claim suffering from allergic and other mysterious-yet-painful reactions to the stuff and try to avoid it.
Something like that... Oh, and, of course, PROFIT!
In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
This drug is just a synthetic curcumin (turmeric) derivative and the statistics show that the natural substance does protect Indians, who eat a lot of it. (Old news.)
Drugs have to treat a disease to get approved, and aging isn't considered a disease. But if it is proven to treat memory loss or cardiovascular conditions it could get breakthrough status and sail through ASAP.
Apparently it is the mice that are running the planet and they got us trained to solve their health problems.
In my day, people knew the good, honest value in growing old.
Get off my lawn, dammit!
Where are my teeth? Who am I?
Requiem for the American Dream
I can't wait for them to try this on Humans!
Note that the anti-ageing effects were seen in a strain of mutated mice that "exhibit rapid ageing". It may turn out that the drug's effects are specific for the pathway affected by the mouse line's particular genetic fault, rather than against ageing in general.
But even if that's the case, I expect it would retard SOME aspects of age-related debilitation in normal mice and in humans. I await the results of the upcoming human trials.
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
"Secondly, everything in the media is airbrushed. There are minimal ugly, or fat people on TV,"
You should watch more BBC series, they have people without fake teeth, fake boobs, fake hair, fake lips, etc
"Anti-aging! On my Slashdot? Cue the Luddites!"
Not at all! If we live forever, we would even have time to read TFA.