Aging Matters
When it comes to calories, inefficiency is the name of the game. We know that less weight is healthier and leads to longer life, but the desire to eat runs deep, and dieting through willpower works for almost no one. So we look for tricks that will let us eat more and weigh less. Two … Read more
Aubrey de Grey has rallied the world’s scientific community and its funders to attack the biological basis of aging, which underlies the majority of disease and suffering in the developed world. Since 2003, he has organized bi-annual conferences, bringing together innovative biologists, medical researchers and a few policy wonks to share knowledge and perspectives, to … Read more
One of the oldest and best-established theories of aging holds that we age because of oxidative damage. In the classic version, the body exploits high-energy chemistry based on oxidation for an energy supply at the cellular level, but this involves constant exposure to these high-energy species and the free radicals that are their by-products, species … Read more
New research supports a thesis that makes us feel all warm and fuzzy inside – and that feeling itself is good for our health and longevity. People who seek gratification through personal aggrandizement and accumulation of wealth may achieve a kind of hedonistic satisfaction, but this leads to negative health consequences and shorter life span. … Read more
“If I meditate, will I live longer?” I am passionate about my own longevity. I have a daily meditation practice. I teach a weekly yoga class (a small part of my time, a large part of my life). As a scientist, I study aging from a practical as well as an evolutionary … Read more
Low-dose daily aspirin was an idea born in the 1960s, based on the insight that aspirin prevents blood clots and blood clots are the proximate cause of heart attacks and stroke. Millions of people were advised by their doctors to take aspirin daily, and as a result there was a large group of people available … Read more
How do you tell if an osteoporosis treatment is working? Stress-testing your femur until it breaks is not an option most patients would accept. “Bone Mineral Density” (BMD) measurements have been the classical surrogate measurement to tell if a drug is working. But then it was discovered that Fosamax increases BMD, but in the long … Read more
Evolution has bootstrapped its own process, creating the conditions that lead to more efficient evolution. Some biologists find this surprising, but it has undoubtedly occurred. Among the traits that lead to more efficient evolution is aging. Is this the basis on which aging has evolved? This is a theory that several biologists have promoted. I … Read more
Darwin’s prescription for evolution involved just blind variation + natural selection as if evolution were inevitable and all that was required was a collection of objects that are able to reproduce themselves imperfectly. We know now that it is not at all inevitable. The mode of variation is crucially important to making evolution possible. Some … Read more
In the 21st Century, we live in a sea of radio waves. No one wants to think that this might have consequences for our health – there are enough things to worry about that are more within our power to change. We get plenty of encouragement not to think about the subject from the news … Read more