Harvard Researcher Claims Finding Fountain of Youth

Harvard Researcher Claims Finding Fountain of Youth

Memories of being a youngster yearning to grow up make me chuckle. How that passion grew as I stepped through my teenage years, demanding to be an adult.  To be an adult of legal age, to drive, drink, vote, and all the other wonderful associated privileges. You know the story!

Then comes the rest of the story.  Once you are welcomed into adulthood life slowly begins to change. You are given responsibilities, need employment to replace the bygone allowance, stay up to date with your pile of bills – growing older stops being so fun.

Soon comes the occasional thought of finding the fountain of youth, thoughts that become much more frequent as you age. Greek author and historian Herodotus (484 B.C. to 425 B.C.) is the first known to discuss a fountain of youth. He wrote about the water of a fountain in the kingdom of the Macrobians on the Horn of Africa that imbued longevity. Seems it was just a story as no such fountain is known to exist.

Finding such water has been the quest of innumerable explorers over the past 2500+ years.  The most famous story is that of Spanish conquistador Ponce de Leon who sailed the Atlantic in search of the magical water. Reaching Florida on April 2, 1513, de Leon and crew searched part of the peninsula for the infamous anti-aging water fountain, though never found it. Today in his honor you can visit Ponce de León’s Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park.

Aging is partly caused by unraveling of one’s chromosomes. Each end of a chromosome is bundled by a telomere, a region of repetitive nucleotide sequences, which fray both over time.. The shorter one’s telomeres, the shorter their remaining life.

In our modern times scientists continue the search for the enchanting water, though not as a landscape feature. In fact, molecules have been identified which prevent the shortening of telomeres, thus slowing down aging.

A renowned geneticist from Harvard University has tested such a molecule and claims that it has slowed aging in mice, and himself. David Sinclair, who is 49 years of age, has been ingesting the molecule daily and claims it has made him 20 years younger, now having the blood pressure, cholesterol and blood pressure of a man in his 20s. His heart rate is in the same range as a performance athlete. Looks like Sinclair may make some big, real big, money.

However, that is a big maybe.  A report from Kaiser Health News informs:

“Despite his enthusiasm, published scientific research has not yet demonstrated the molecule works in humans as it does in mice. Sinclair, however, has a considerable financial stake in his claims being proven correct, and has lent his scientific prowess to commercializing possible life extension products such as molecules known as “NAD boosters.””

Former dean of the Harvard Medical School Jeffrey Flier criticized, “If you say you’re a terrific scientist and you have a treatment for aging, it gets a lot of attention. There is financial incentive and inducement to overpromise before all the research is in.”

Director of Cambridge’s Metabolic Research Laboratories Stephen O’Rahilly noted, “The sale of nutritional supplements of unproven clinical benefit is commonplace. What is unusual in this case is the extent to which institutions and individuals from the highest levels of the academy have been co-opted to provide scientific credibility for a product whose benefits to human health are unproven.”

The director of the Division of Aging Biology at the National Institute on Aging at NIH Felipe Sierra said what others were thinking, “None of this is ready for prime time. The bottom line is I don’t try any of these things. Why don’t I? Because I’m not a mouse.”

Scientists use mice as research subjects because they are small, plentiful, and reproduce quickly. They also have remarkably high metabolisms, which means that they age quickly, allowing researchers to see how they are affected over a lifetime. However, be aware that we are not mice – we will be affected differently.

1 thought on “Harvard Researcher Claims Finding Fountain of Youth

  1. I’ read the report and i’ don’t know what the fuckk!! I’ think these scientists at Harvard they’re blinded by too much scientists yesss i’ know!!! You can not argue with science but look these scientists are totally blind!! By science you and i’ know more than they do total dumb asses!!!

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