Book: The Youth Pill by Stipp

[Guest guest]

As I mentioned I recently finished this book and highly recommend it. It’s written by science writer Stipp and backed up by published (and some yet to be published) scientific data. Stipp is a lively, witty, writer, (when discussing a long-lived dwarf who played a munchkin the the classic : “Wizard of Oz” : “....Meinhardt Raabe who played the Munchkin coroner, is on record as a pituitary dwarf. And he was not merely alive, but really, most sincerely alive in 2007 at age ninety-two..........).

The book is available in the Public Library.

Here are highlights that leaped out at me. Some of these we’ve discussed here but some were entirely new to me:

Pg. 69: ...among men participating in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging, the longest-running study of aging in the U.S., those with lower body temperatures and lower blood insulin levels have tended to live longer......

Pg 72....these data suggest anti-aging researchers should scan for drugs that keep sugar metabolism under tight control.

Pg 110: the tie between small body size and extra long life, is seen in many species. It applies only within a species, that is small dogs live much longer than large ones.,,,,,men height 5 feet nine or less live nearly 5 years longer on average than those taller...irrespective of whether they are heavyset or lightly built.

Pg. 157: ...the evolutionary response to starvation in rodents does not apply to humans, so there’s no reason to think we would react to CR the way they do. Unlike small mammals with fast metabolism we have relatively large bodily reserves that can see us through tough times without forgoing growth and reproduction to slow aging. Further if food is scarce in one place, far ranging creatures like us simply move on to find food. Thus evolution had no reason to maintain the starvation response in our kind.

Pg. 158: In mid 2009 Weindruch’s group made a splash by reporting that CR had slowed aging in primates.....the claim was controversial however because some of the monkeys on CR had died from causes deemed unrelated to aging; unless such deaths were excluded from the analysis, the CR groups longer survival wasn’t statistically significant. Critics have argued that such deaths might actually be related to CR, hence excluding them may exaggerate CR’s benefits.

Pg 166: the fact (that a substance) showed promise inspired NIA and in 2009

Roth disclosed that a similar compound – mannoheptulose – a sugar found in avocados –had mimicked a number of CR effects in mice. It improved insulin sensitivity, glucose metabolism, induced muscles to burn fat, and most striking, extended life span by 30% compared with untreated rodents. These findings have not yet appeared in a peer-reviewed journal.

169: the diabetes drug metaform mimics CR effects in rodents. Metaform is a cousin of phenformin which is less toxic and is sold as a drug called Glucophage in the U.S. There is also limited data that it can extend life span.

188: Piceatannol and quercetin seem to grease SIRTI’s wheels. Found in fruits and other plants, they are antioxidants which when tested, sped up SIRT1 in the test tube. Most potent of these is resveratrol found in grape skins, peanuts, and other foods; also giant knotweed a plant used in traditional Chinese medicine. (Note: he did not recommend taking any of the supplements now on the market because they don’t contain much resveratrol)

189: Resveratrol can lower risk of Alzheimer’s, heart disease, strokes, hearing loss, osteoarthritis.

212: Two of four compounds showed evidence of enhancing longevity: aspirin and nordihydroguiaretic acid or NDGA, a creosotebush extract structurally similar to resveratrol. But they did not boost maximum life span (only median life span) an indication that they boost good health only and don’t slow aging.

212: Rapamycin was tested. The mice were deemed “too old” to show anti-aging effects. But everyone was astounded; the stuff worked like magic. Life expectancy increased by 28% in male mice and 38% in females. The astonishing effect of Rapamycin speaks louder than any other single finding. And even if it doesn’t slow human aging, it might postpone many diseases of aging. Mouse results show promise for: heart disease, bone loss, neurodegenerative disease, and cancer.

220: Resveratrol is in : red wine, dark chocolate, peanuts, cherries, grape juice, apples among others. Rapamycin is in coffee and caffeine,; aspirin has a similar effect on the body as Rapamycin.