There are drugs and medicines that have been shown to extend life.
Some are prescription, others are unregulated supplements. Although there isn’t definitive data from studies on these substances yet, the scientists and doctors studying the research are taking these substances because the evidence is convincing,
Metformin – This medicine has come to many people’s attention because it is associated with a lower death rate from diabetes, heart disease, cancer, surgery, and even covid-19! It has been used safely for more than twenty years on tens of thousands of patients to control blood sugar levels in type 2 diabetics. ACTION: New studies are showing that Metformin acts in a positive way on many modes of inflammation in the body, on the gut microbiome (like probiotics), and on a signalling pathway that helps supress a cytokine that can cause tissue damage in aging. (do you recognise 'cytokine' from covid infections?) These factors all boost longevity in mammals, and, indeed, primary studies on small mammals have found that their life has been extended using these mechanisms.
Interesting fact: You can get a similar response in the body every time you do a high intensity muscle building exercise so some people who take metformin for longevity (instead of diabetes) take it on the days they don't exercise.
Rapamycin - This medicine has been used for more than 20 years for supressing the immune system from attacking a transplanted organ in patients that have undergone surgery to replace an organ. Unfortunately, once Rapamycin was labelled as an immunosuppression drug, scientists stopped studying it for other uses.
Fortunately, its anti-ageing properties and potential as a longevity agent have been recognised. ACTION: Rapamycin can decrease the diseases that lead to ageing as well as decrease the ageing cells which lead to diseases of ageing (like two sides of the same coin). It also has virtually no side effects.
Interesting fact: Fasting can induce the same anti-ageing pathways as taking rapamycin, but at a diminishing rate with age.
NR and NMN These letters are the much easier to pronounce abbreviations for Nicotinomide MonoNucleotide and Nicotinamide Riboside. Both are substances found in foods we eat and they can be produced in our bodies after fasting or exercising, but, as we age, they fail to be able to do their job. ACTION: Their job is to be converted into the all-important, energy-giving NAD (short for Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide) which is present in every cell and turns food into energy and directs proteins to perform vital functions. By the time you are old there is very little NAD in each cell and when it is gone the cell dies. Taking NR or NMN allows your body to make more NAD and keeps your cells from declining with age.
Besides aging, alcohol binging or sunlight over-exposure are two other things that can use up the NAD to repair damaged cells depleting it to low levels.
Resveretol - Olive Oil - Curcumin
These three substances all have a similar role in anti-ageing. They all stimulate a safe fat-burning state in a cell and can help clear damaged cells. They have been shown in studies to extend life-span in small animals and to have the anti-ageing affects on human cells. Resveratrol must be taken with fats in the meal in order be absorbed and used in the body. Olive oil needs to be the 'first mechanically pressed extract' of extra virgin olive oil to contain the appropriate substances. Curcumin should eaten with fats and black pepper or taken by the 'theracumin' preparation of the supplement to be easily absorbed.
Dose Reccommendations:
Metformin and Rapamycin are prescription medications so most people will have to work with a doctor to be able to take it. In general, my impression is that it is not going to be easy to get most doctors to give a prescription for 'longevity'! (It doesn't seem quite fair that some people have access and others don't). If you do want to bring it to your doctor's attention, I would start with some of the further reading articles below and consider bringing scientific papers to your doctor to have a conversation about it.
NMN - 500mg - 1000mg daily
NR - 500mg -1000mg daily
Resveratrol - 500mg - 1000mg daily
Theracumin - 90mg - 100mg daily (interestingly, lower doses for a longer time is more beneficial to slow neurodegeneration)
FURTHER READING