People age at different rates. While some live into their ninth or tenth decade without suffering any diseases related to age-related issues, others succumb much sooner.
No secret exists: diet, exercise and sleep all play an integral part in delaying biological ageing. But is there a way to actually reverse time?
Lifestyle Changes
Lifestyle changes can help to slow the aging process in many ways, including diet, regular exercise and stress management techniques. Studies have linked diets rich in nutrient-dense plant foods with reduced disease risk and increased longevity, reduced inflammation and improvement of many blood biomarkers associated with ageing. Regular exercise can help slow age-related muscle loss (sarcopenia), improve glucose levels, reduce chronic inflammation and enhance brain health – as well as slowing aging overall.
These strategies alone won’t reverse the aging process; for that to occur, researchers need to be able to reset cell epigenetics back into their youthful states – something still in its early stages, as no treatments for anti-ageing could reach human clinical trials until decades have passed.
Scientists are actively developing various solutions to this challenge, such as using young plasma to “jumpstart” genes that have become disabled through age or environmental influences. A company called Tally Health offers consumers this approach with its cheek swab test, which estimates one’s biological age – more importantly than their chronological one – and offers tips on living longer and healthier lives.
Sinclair has found success resetting the aging clock of mice multiple times in his lab, while also using plasma from young donors to rejuvenate cells of both progeria patients and regular aging mice, extending life expectancies while lessening severity of age-related diseases. Recently he received a patent for this work from Altos Biosciences who are working alongside other scientists in human trials of his research.
Even though humans are biologically much more complex than lab mice, it may one day be possible to stop, halt, or reverse the aging process altogether. Such an achievement would provide us with the chance for long-term health and vitality.
But for most of us, the key to living a long and healthy life lies in making gradual, sustainable lifestyle changes. While it may be easy to become discouraged if new habits don’t immediately bear fruit, patience should be practiced when trying out something new; small steps lead to big differences over time. When replacing an unhealthy behavior with something healthier – for instance if snacking while watching TV was your habit try replacing this activity with hand weight exercises instead!
Supplements
Curcumin, Resveratrol and Collagen supplements have been shown to aid in slowing or improving certain age-related conditions, and should be used alongside healthy eating and exercise to achieve maximum effects. Unfortunately, however, supplements are not regulated by the FDA, so some may not have been proven safe or effective over the long-term – it’s best to select ones recommended by health professionals you trust for maximum effectiveness.
Recent research indicates that mitochondria, or “powerhouses”, of every cell in our bodies can serve as an indicator of ageing. While producing energy for cell processes, mitochondria release free radicals which damage nearby cells and increase our chances of aging prematurely. According to this research, supplementing our diets with more antioxidants – natural molecules which neutralise free radicals – may help stave off ageing and extend life span.
On TikTok there has been much discussion of a “miracle drug” called NAD+ that claims to reverse aging. While NAD+ is an enzyme and not a drug, additional research needs to be conducted into its effect on human health and longevity. Sleep, stress reduction and keeping a regular workout schedule all can have positive results on health; using InsideTracker as your health tracker may help identify which behaviors work most effectively in improving specific biomarkers in your health profile.
Stem Cell Therapy
Stem cells serve as the raw materials from which all other specialized cells in our bodies are generated. Stem cells possess the unique ability to self-renew, meaning they can divide to make more stem cells or differentiate into specific cell types such as blood, nerve or heart muscle cells. When stem cells are injected back into our bodies they help promote healing of diseased or dysfunctional tissue by activating growth factors and activating cell differentiation processes.
Cells may produce cytokines and signaling molecules to increase repair mechanisms and combat cell aging. Furthermore, immune modulatory properties could help preserve healthy tissues and delay age-related changes.
As stem cells can differentiate into various specialized cells, stem cell therapy offers hope to treat numerous conditions and diseases ranging from neurological and degenerative conditions like MS to Parkinson’s disease and other neurodegenerative conditions. Stem cell treatment has even been utilized as a way to improve quality of life among those living with these chronic neurodegenerative conditions.
There are two primary forms of stem cell therapy: autologous and allogeneic. Autologous treatments involve extracting cells from an individual’s own bone marrow via minimally invasive procedures; allogeneic stem cells come from another person’s umbilical cord blood or placenta and can be given via IV infusion.
Stem cell therapy offers numerous advantages for combatting signs of aging such as sagging skin and wrinkles, increasing elasticity and firmness, improving physical function and even reversing age-related disease progression. Stem cells treatments are now being utilized for osteoarthritis treatment, spinal cord injury rehab and multiple sclerosis treatments to name just a few medical conditions or injuries being addressed with stem cell treatments.
When selecting a clinic to receive stem cell therapy, look for one founded by a physician specializing in regenerative medicine. Louis A. Cona, MD brings over 15 years of experience to DVC Stem, an IRB-approved clinical facility located on Grand Cayman. As Medical Director at this IRB-approved clinical facility he performs each treatment assisted by Registered Nurse. Together his team are experts at stem cell therapy and can answer any of your questions about its process.
Anti-Aging Medicine
Anti-Aging Medicine (AAM) is an emerging field that specializes in treating diseases associated with age. AAM utilizes traditional and alternative approaches to address disease progression or delay disease-related aging, and research into it is becoming more popular than ever. Many organizations provide courses and certification for physicians wanting to practice this specialty; AAM’s promise lies in improving older person’s wellbeing as well as decreasing healthcare system burdens.
Recently, laboratory animals have shown impressive success at slowing or even reversing aging processes, raising hopes that therapies to do the same could enable humans to live longer and healthier lives. Multiple clinical trials examining drugs that slow or reverse aging are currently under way – including metformin, rapamycin, quercetin, dasatinib and senolytics as examples; other drugs being tested include metformin, rapamycin quercetin dasatinib dasatinib dasatinib and senolytics; other trials study specific aspects of aging such as toxic cell accumulation in the body – in hopes that such research may one day stop dementia while others work on treatments for cancer or heart disease among others.
However, it should be remembered that anti-ageing medicine and its movement face various hurdles. One major difficulty is finding funding for medical trials – pharmaceutical companies tend not to invest heavily in this area and it can be challenging finding money for special equipment and laboratories needed for these kinds of studies.
Change our understanding of aging is another key challenge. Society accepts the idea that our most productive years lie within our youth when biological activity and health is at its peak, leading many to associate youth with happiness and well-being. Therefore, an anti-ageing pill would be highly desirable to extend life while ward off disease in old age.
Many scientists have taken up the task of devising such a pill. Their efforts include trying to mimic caloric restriction’s effects in mice as well as exploring an exciting field called cellular reprogramming, which allows doctors to take fully developed cells and “turn them back on”, so they behave like younger cells again.
