Scientists are testing calorie restriction, diabetes drugs, senolytic drugs, changes to the gut microbiome and even cellular reprogramming. None has yet produced a proven method to extend human life, according to Prof. Zbigniew Gaciong of the Medical University of Warsaw.
"Unfortunately, extending our lives is largely in our own hands," Gaciong said. "We do not have miracle methods."
Gaciong, an internal medicine and hypertension specialist who served as rector of the Medical University of Warsaw from 2020 to 2024, was speaking at the 30th Science Festival in Warsaw at the University of Warsaw’s Faculty of Physics earlier this month.
Researchers have long tried to separate the effects of genetics, environment and behavior on longevity. Gaciong said current genetic research continues to point to lifestyle and environmental factors as stronger influences on the risk of premature death than inherited genes.
The world’s oldest living person, Britain’s Ethel Caterham, turned 117 in August. The verified human longevity record belongs to France’s Jeanne Calment, who died in 1997 at the age of 122.
Some populations with unusually large numbers of people reaching advanced ages share several features, Gaciong said. These include daily physical activity, diets based largely on plants with some fish and dairy, relatively little red meat, and strong family and social connections.
Longer lives, however, have not necessarily meant longer periods in good health. "In short, we die later, but we spend longer being ill," Gaciong said.
He identified high blood pressure as a leading risk factor for premature death. Several decades ago, rising blood pressure was often regarded as a natural consequence of aging. Later research showed that it is associated with a higher risk of death and cardiovascular disease.
Studies of communities maintaining traditional lifestyles have found blood pressure around 90/60 mm Hg, very low cholesterol levels and little of the arterial damage common in industrialized societies, Gaciong said.
When such populations adopt Western lifestyles, their blood pressure tends to rise toward levels found in industrialized countries.
He also rejected the idea that a daily glass of red wine should be regarded as preventive medicine. Current guidelines do not recommend alcohol for health benefits, he said, and alcohol can raise blood pressure.
"Please remember that a glass of red wine is not a method of health prevention," he said.
Changes in diet have also played a large part in Poland's falling cardiovascular death rate since 1990. Gaciong cited research suggesting that modern heart attack treatment accounted for about 5 percent of the decline, while dietary changes and lower cholesterol accounted for almost 40 percent.
Physical activity is another factor. Higher physical fitness is associated with longer life expectancy, he said, although extreme endurance exercise can sometimes produce changes to the heart and disturbances in heart rhythm.
Researchers are also trying to measure biological rather than chronological age. One method uses epigenetic clocks, which track changes in the way DNA is regulated as people age. Much of the evidence that aging itself can be slowed still comes from experiments on animals and cells.
Calorie restriction has extended life in mice, although researchers continue to debate how those results should be interpreted.
Studies of people consuming about 1,600 calories a day have not shown that they live longer, Gaciong said, although some age-related cardiovascular changes appeared to progress more slowly.
Experiments involving the microbiome, the collection of microorganisms living in the body, have produced similarly striking results in animals. Transferring gut microorganisms from a young animal to an older one has reversed some signs of aging. That does not mean microbiome transplantation is a proven rejuvenation treatment for people.
Scientists are also studying whether mature cells can be reprogrammed into a younger state. Research by Shinya Yamanaka and John Gurdon showed that adult cells can be returned to a stem-cell-like state.
Later experiments have suggested that some cellular signs of aging can be reversed, although the safety of such interventions remains a major problem.
Metformin, widely used to treat type 2 diabetes, and senolytics, drugs intended to remove aging cells from the body, are among other approaches under investigation.
Such studies generally cannot measure whether a treatment extends human life because that would require researchers to follow participants for decades. Instead, they use biological markers associated with aging.
Gaciong also warned against commercial anti-aging supplements.
"There are no data showing that any of the popular supplements work as a treatment or rejuvenating agent in healthy people," he said.
For now, he said, the established measures remain less exotic: diet, physical activity, recommended screening tests and vaccinations.
(rt/gs)
Source: naukawpolsce.pl