Based on the results of his more than 20 years of research, Sinclair says that delaying aging is possible and that people can live longer and healthier lives through a few simple habits.
Sinclair believes it will be possible in the near future to treat aging with drugs, which are still being tested. Sinclair says that in the future it may actually be possible to reverse the aging process.
Sinclair, who holds a doctorate from the University of New South Wales in Australia and a postdoctoral degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States, is the head of a laboratory at Harvard University that specializes in studying why people age.
Aging (photoAC)
Sinclair’s research won him dozens of scientific awards and made him a celebrity. He was selected as one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine; he has nearly 200,000 followers on Twitter.
Sinclair also holds 35 patents and has founded or participated in research at several biotech companies, some of which are focused on slowing or preventing aging.
Sinclair is also the author of the best-selling book Lifespan (Why we age – and why we don’t have to). In his book, he says that contrary to popular belief, aging is not inevitable.
Sinclair’s Harvard laboratory investigates the phenomenon of aging.
Sinclair also believes that we must radically change the way we think about aging: Rather than seeing it as a normal and natural process, we must treat it as a disease, one that can be treated and even cured.
Only by radically changing the way we think about old age can humans significantly increase their life expectancy, Sinclair said. Otherwise, medical advances will only give us a few more years. “We have to do better,” he said.
Sinclair recently accepted an exclusive interview with a BBC Brazilian reporter:
Why do we age?
Scientists have identified nine major causes of aging. In the 25 years I’ve been doing research, we’ve found evidence that one of the causes that’s a major contributor to many, if not all, of the others involves information loss.
We inherit two types of information from our parents, and they are influenced by environment and time.
One of these is “digital” information, the genetic code. The other is epigenome, the system in cells that controls which genes are turned on and off.
Sinclair says there’s no biological law that says we have to age.
It is by turning the 20,000 genes in the cell on and off that it tells the cell who it is – giving it its identity – and telling it how it should function.
But over time, epigenetics begins to lose information, like a CD that gets scratched. Cells lose their ability to turn on the right genes at the right time. They lose their function.
I think that’s why we age.
You say we don’t need to grow old, why?
There is no law in biology that says we must age. We don’t know how to stop the aging process, but we are making progress in slowing it down. In the laboratory, we can even reverse the aging process.
What I’m trying to say is that epigenetics can be changed.
The way we live has a huge impact on lifespan, just like scratches on a CD. A correct lifestyle can significantly reduce the rate at which our body clock ages. And, today we are able to measure this clock, for example, with blood and saliva tests.
We found that the rate of aging can be very different in animals like mice and even whales and elephants, and in people with different lifestyles. More than 80% of your future health depends on your lifestyle, not your DNA.
Scientists have found a few things in common by observing people who live longer, including eating the right diet (for example, a Mediterranean diet is a good place to start), reducing calorie intake, and not eating all the time. Of course, exercise helps too.
Others believe that cooling the body with ice and cold water can also be helpful.
How does all this help slow down aging?
Scientists believe these lifestyle habits and interventions are effective because they enhance the body’s natural defenses against disease and aging.
Mediterranean diet (pixabay)
The Mediterranean diet is a great start to a healthy life.
Exposing the body to periods of cold, heat, starvation, and shortness of breath from exercise are some ways to activate these defense mechanisms.
Controlling these defense mechanisms is a group of genes. We studied a group of genes that control epigenetics and can be activated by exercise and starvation.
This is why we believe eating right and fasting can slow down the aging clock.
Aging is at the root of most diseases and is by far the leading cause of heart disease, Alzheimer’s disease and diabetes.
So we just want to make you stronger and live longer.
A recent study published in the journal Nature stated that primates age at a constant rate, contrary to your study. This means we cannot slow or prevent aging.
Two hundred years ago, the highest speed a human could move was the speed of a horse. Today, we can use technology to overcome our own biological limitations. Technology can help us solve problems and make us better than before.
We are a constantly innovating species and we would not be able to survive without technology.
We’ve been doing this for the past million years, and we’ll find the technology to overcome it. This is the next step, finding ways to overcome the health limitations we inherit.
In fact, we do this every day. When we take an aspirin or put on clothes, we change the environment and also change the chemistry of our bodies.
Exercise helps slow down aging (pixabay)
Exercise helps slow down aging.
You propose a different approach to aging: treating it like a disease. Why?
Disease is a process that occurs over time and leads to disability and/or death. It’s the same thing as aging.
Aging is a disease, and it’s very common. But just because it’s a common and natural phenomenon doesn’t mean it should be accepted.
It’s no better than cancer. We are showing that it is treatable. It can be delayed and prevented from happening.
2024-02-26 10:18:19
#American #geneticist #David #Sinclair #Aging #disease #Aging #treated #delayed
