Life extension
[1] Several researchers in the area, along with "life extensionists", "immortalists", or "longevists" (those who wish to achieve longer lives themselves), postulate that future breakthroughs in tissue rejuvenation, stem cells, regenerative medicine, molecular repair, gene therapy, pharmaceuticals, and organ replacement (such as with artificial organs or xenotransplantations) will eventually enable humans to have indefinite lifespans through complete rejuvenation to a healthy youthful condition (agerasia[2]).
For example, the industry that promotes the use of hormones as a treatment for consumers to slow or reverse the aging process in the US market generated about $50 billion of revenue a year in 2009.
[11] The average life expectancy in a population is lowered by infant and child mortality, which are frequently linked to infectious diseases or nutrition problems.
Extension of life expectancy and lifespan can often be achieved by access to improved medical care, vaccinations, good diet, exercise, and avoidance of hazards such as smoking.
Widely recognized methods of extending maximum lifespan in model organisms such as nematodes, fruit flies, and mice include caloric restriction, gene manipulation, and administration of pharmaceuticals.
[15][16][17][18] The extension of life has been a desire of humanity and a mainstay motif in the history of scientific pursuits and ideas throughout history, from the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh and the Egyptian Smith medical papyrus, all the way through the Taoists, Ayurveda practitioners, alchemists, hygienists such as Luigi Cornaro, Johann Cohausen and Christoph Wilhelm Hufeland, and philosophers such as Francis Bacon, René Descartes, Benjamin Franklin and Nicolas Condorcet.
Among the foremost researchers of life extension at this period were the Nobel Prize winning biologist Elie Metchnikoff (1845-1916) -- the author of the cell theory of immunity and vice director of Institut Pasteur in Paris, and Charles-Édouard Brown-Séquard (1817-1894) -- the president of the French Biological Society and one of the founders of modern endocrinology.
[20] Regulatory and legal struggles between the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Life Extension organization included seizure of merchandise and court action.
[29] In 2003, Aubrey de Grey and David Gobel formed the Methuselah Foundation, which gives financial grants to anti-aging research projects.
[30] In 2013, Google announced Calico, a new company based in San Francisco that will harness new technologies to increase scientific understanding of the biology of aging.
In 2014, biologist Craig Venter founded Human Longevity Inc., a company dedicated to scientific research to end aging through genomics and cell therapy.
[40] A 2009 review of longevity research noted: "Extrapolation from worms to mammals is risky at best, and it cannot be assumed that interventions will result in comparable life extension factors.
[44] Sirtuin activating polyphenols, such as resveratrol and pterostilbene,[45][46][47] and flavonoids, such as quercetin and fisetin,[48] as well as oleic acid[49] are dietary supplements that have also been studied in this context.
[51] While agents such as these have some limited laboratory evidence of efficacy in animals, there are no studies to date in humans for drugs that may promote life extension, mainly because research investment remains at a low level, and regulatory standards are high.
Raymond Kurzweil, a futurist and transhumanist, stated in his book The Singularity Is Near that he believes that advanced medical nanorobotics could completely remedy the effects of aging by 2030.
[60] While some biogerontologists find these ideas "worthy of discussion",[61][62] others contend that the alleged benefits are too speculative given the current state of technology, referring to it as "fantasy rather than science".
[65] A large array of genetic modifications have been found to increase lifespan in model organisms such as yeast, nematode worms, fruit flies, and mice.
Dog and primate brain transplantation experiments were conducted in the mid-20th century but failed due to rejection and the inability to restore nerve connections.
[5] Research by Sobh and Martin (2011) suggests that people buy anti-aging products to obtain a hoped-for self (e.g., keeping a youthful skin) or to avoid a feared-self (e.g., looking old).
[83] Leon Kass (chairman of the US President's Council on Bioethics from 2001 to 2005) has questioned whether potential exacerbation of overpopulation problems would make life extension unethical.
[86] Transhumanist philosopher Nick Bostrom has argued that any technological advances in life extension must be equitably distributed and not restricted to a privileged few.
[87] In an extended metaphor entitled "The Fable of the Dragon-Tyrant", Bostrom envisions death as a monstrous dragon who demands human sacrifices.
[90] Moreover, the philosopher and futurist Max More argues that, given that the worldwide population growth rate is slowing down and is projected to eventually stabilize and begin falling, superlongevity would be unlikely to contribute to overpopulation.
The median "ideal lifespan" was 91 years of age and the majority of the public (63%) viewed medical advances aimed at prolonging life as generally good.
One view is, this would stimulate pharmaceutical companies to develop life extension therapies and in the United States of America, it would also increase the regulation of the anti-aging market by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
[131] Research suggests that increasing adherence to Mediterranean diet patterns is associated with a reduction in total and cause-specific mortality, extending health- and lifespan.
[107][166] A review has pointed out that the approach of "'epidemiological' comparison of how a low versus a high consumption of an isolated macronutrient and its association with health and mortality may not only fail to identify protective or detrimental nutrition patterns but may lead to misleading interpretations".
Loneliness/isolation, social life and support,[135][170] exercise/physical activity (partly via neurobiological effects and increased NAD+ levels),[135][171][159][160][172][173] psychological characteristics/personality (possibly highly indirectly),[174][175] sleep duration,[135] circadian rhythms (patterns of sleep, drug-administration and feeding),[176][177][178] type of leisure activities,[135] not smoking,[135] altruistic emotions and behaviors,[179][180] subjective well-being,[181] mood[135] and stress (including via heat shock protein)[135][182] are investigated as potential (modulatable) factors of life extension.
[187] Low ambient temperature as a physical factor affecting free radical levels was identified as a treatment producing exceptional lifespan increase in Drosophila melanogaster and other living beings.
[194] Two clinics in California, run by Jesse Karmazin and David C. Wright,[189] offer $8,000 injections of plasma extracted from the blood of young people.
