Pharmaceutical Targeting of Mitochondria to Extend Lifespan

Pharmaceutical Targeting of Mitochondria to Extend Lifespan

Research is increasingly producing novel pharmaceutical interventions to improve the quality and duration of human lifespan. Recent research explores a novel class of compounds designed to help sustain mitochondrial function in an effort to improve both lifespan and healthspan.

Compound Found in Traditional Chinese Medicine Extends Lifespan

Compound Found in Traditional Chinese Medicine Extends Lifespan

Recent examination of crude extracts from plants utilized in traditional Chinese medicine has identified the herb Psoralea corylifolia to have potential lifespan-extending properties. Further analysis demonstrated a single compound, corylin, to be responsible for improving lifespan; it was shown to function through the mTOR pathway, a well-defined pathway known to modulate lifespan in a multitude of organisms.

Cool Down, Live Longer

Cool Down, Live Longer

Since the development of technologies that have allowed humanity to outlive the “normal” period an organism is fit to survive in the natural world, the tragedy of old age and decrepitude has frustrated researchers and driven them to seek out a root cause. Progress has been achieved, for the most part, by addressing the discrete age-related pathologies; however, taking a first-principles approach focused on temperature has allowed researchers to investigate a basic temperature-dependent facet of aging and perhaps affect an underlying driver of many, if not all, age-related phenomena.

Turning Back the Cellular Clock

Turning Back the Cellular Clock

Thinking of biological aging as analogous to a clock, research has given us two distinct avenues of lifespan-extending intervention: the clock can be either slowed down or wound back. Most research has with dealt the former, but the latter is very promising—especially for those whose clock has been winding for some time.

Weight Loss Drug Shown to Reduce Obesity and Increase Muscle Mass

Weight Loss Drug Shown to Reduce Obesity and Increase Muscle Mass

Obesity is highly correlated with and thought to contribute to an increased incidence of heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and certain cancers and is rapidly becoming the most prevalent driver of age-related pathologies in the modern world. The availability of novel pharmaceutical interventions might provide treatment to the increasingly common condition of intractable obesity.

Can We Be Immunized Against Old Age?

Can We Be Immunized Against Old Age?

Can vaccines be used to fight age-related disease and, ultimately, to extend lifespan? Research published in Nature Aging suggests that such a promising strategy could be a reality.

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