The philosopher’s stone: is longevity a myth used by hype mongers?

A story of change.

Take Sara for instance, our, very imaginary friend, a woman of 28 years of age. Sara lives in central London, has a cat at home, whom she loves, has a younger sister, loves to watch old animes, and listens to Pink Floyd. She loves to bake and consequently loves eating baked goods. She has a desk job in West London. All of these hobbies and engagements don’t really invoke an active or healthy lifestyle. She first got introduced to the concept of longevity by her sister after a long conversation at her birthday dinner at a friend’s house about her sciatica acting up again and if she feels like that at 28, how is it gonna be when she turns 50? Or even 35? Really their parents had much healthier lifestyles and they are still in not so great a shape. How is it gonna be with them? Might as well start saving up for some kind of home healthcare plan now. Longevity was her sister’s reply to her rant and Sara having exclaimed that she obviously knows what longevity is and who wouldn’t, ended up googling the word later that same night. The ride home on the tube felt strange, as if longevity was the secret code to health and happiness she was looking for, she just didn’t know the word for it yet. She imagined one Google search or one question typed into chat GPT would surely reveal the path. Well, if you are here on our blog now you must know that it is not quite as easy as she had imagined on that blissful ride on the train.

As she browsed the World Wide Web, she first fell into a deep well of company websites and ads with promises resembling the myth of the philosopher’s stone, the elixir of life promised by alchemists of the past. This got her intrigued but naturally, she was skeptical. It was not long before she discovered she was not alone in this feeling. The skeptics were not scarce, there were plenty of scientists severely criticizing the science of longevity. So, is it all just empty promises or should she give it a go? Well, anyone else might have shut down their laptops and gone to bed, or started winning to chat GPT but not Sara. She took out her yellow legal pad and began to dig for the truth. She first came across titles such as: “Why everything you think about living to 100 might be wrong”. [2] “Think You Will Live to 100? These Scientists Think You’re Wrong.” [3]

Skepticism in longevity science.

Sara, being a bit of an amateur philosopher, maybe the product of listening to too much Pink Floyd, wondered if it all boils down to technological skepticism. Skepticism is defined as conditions under which the characteristics and promises of the offered technological solutions are not trusted by the adopter. [9] Sara noted rather proudly. Skepticism is one of the most common attitudes toward innovation. It can, however, both trigger or break technical change and scientific revolutions. So is that all it is? A natural skepticism to adopt a new technology? As it turns out, no, not entirely at least.

Clinical trials in longevity science.

The main issue seemed to be that the longevity treatments, be it geroprotectors or lifestyle shifts, are not backed by sufficient evidence. Therefore, the claim of life expansion and making humans centenarians seems to be still out of reach until clinical trials of these treatments reach a certain point. Aging, emphasizes the concept of time. In general, scientific advancements take time. This is especially highlighted in the case of longevity research. It takes time to confirm the efficacy of longevity treatments. Animal models in the lab address this issue to some extent, however even mouse models live more than 3 years. Again, time is a serious problem here, 3 to 4 years is practically the length of a full PhD program. Imagine telling a PhD student that their whole research will be spent on waiting for a group of mice to die of natural causes and monitoring them along the way… Animal models such as killifish, being a vertebrate living around 3-4 months [4], alleviate this issue to some extent. However, they are still only animal models, and translating these findings to human beings is essential and we are not there yet. As a 2024 nature aging publication puts it: “At a practical level, it is not feasible to test whether any current or future gerotherapeutic could extend human lifespan to over 100 years because of the time required to empirically verify life-extending properties of this magnitude.” [8]

This, Sara found, was not the entire story. Surely it takes long to obtain solid evidence in favor of longevity treatments in clinical trials but we have already achieved important results. Take the EPIC study conducted by the Cambridge University. The researchers recruited over 30,000 men and women aged 40-79 years in Norfolk. These participants were checked for over 30 years, providing information about behavioral factors, including diet and physical activity, and attended a baseline health check including the provision of blood samples. [6] Results from this study clearly presented that people who drink moderately, exercise, quit smoking, and eat five servings of fruit and vegetables each day live on average 14 years longer than people who adopt none of these behaviors. [7] However, life expectancy improvements have decelerated since 1990. This raises the question of how much more time can be manufactured with the help of advancements in medicine or longevity science. These skepticisms or this deceleration do not in any way mean that the field of longevity is now blocked by a brick wall, but as discussed previously there is an uncertainty on how much time will we buy ourselves with these investments. [8]

Evidence for healthy aging by longevity practices.

Here, Sara paused. Who cares if they are right or wrong? Does she even want to live to be 100? Really, she is worried that by the time she reaches 40, she will be partially dysfunctional and it will probably be all downhill from there. As she was almost ready to let go of the search, she came across a curious title, healthy aging. A quick Google search later:

“WHO defines healthy aging as the process of developing and maintaining the functional ability that enables wellbeing in older age.” “Maintaining functional abilities”, “wellbeing” … seemed too good to be true. However, there is plenty of evidence supporting the beneficial effects of a longevity-oriented lifestyle. [10] So, Sara began taking notes of the advice and their evidence:

Exercising: Endurance exercise stimulates mitochondrial biogenesis and increases muscle oxidative capacity as well as improving insulin resistance. Aerobic exercise training also increases mitochondrial oxidative capacity. Therefore, a combination of both types of exercise creates the best exercise regimen. [11]

Diet:  A Mediterranean diet has significant beneficial effects on the 10-year incidence of metabolic syndrome, diabetes, hypertension, and inflammatory markers [12] and slows down cognitive decline. [13] Intermittent fasting can also be an easier alternative to specific diets or caloric restriction. It includes restricting eating only to a certain time frame. 16:8 diet for instance means only eating 8 hours of the day and fasting the other 16 hours. Or the 5:2 diet means consuming only 25% of normal calories 2 days a week. This causes hormesis in cells meaning stress induced by famine which causes the cells to make themselves fitter. Fasting for more than 12 hours also causes ketosis. [14]

Sleep: Hormone secretion tends to be higher in the morning. Some genes are more active during the dark hours to repair damage that has emerged in the body. Melatonin is secreted at night to prime the body for sleep. To align the body's rhythm to the light/dark cycles, 1. regular awake time and exposure to sunlight right away. 2. Limiting light exposure towards the end of the day for melatonin production. 3. Eating at regular times and finishing calorie intake by 7 p.m. [14] With that Sara shut her laptop. Looking at the time showing 3 a.m. Sunday morning, and at the bowl of chips she was munching on as she was performing her research. She felt her back ache as she struggled to get up from her desk chair. She glanced around at her room as she progressed slowly to her bed, a new look of resolution decorating her face. Perhaps tomorrow she will end up here, at Zova, so that we can follow and help her, to access correct information and build a path to a healthier future.