My Serve

“The search for the Fountain of Youth”

Ponce de Leon, a Spanish explorer who came with Christopher Columbus in his exploration of the New World. On his second trip in 1493, Ponce de Leon stayed behind in Santo Domingo, an island south of Florida. As a reward for his good service to the Spanish Crown, he was granted permission to search for “Bimini,” one of the islands in the Bahamas, where the “fountain of youth” was supposed to be found. Legend has it that whoever drinks from the fountain will never grow old.

He never found the island, he, having landed in what is now St. Augustine, Florida. Needless to say, he never found the fountain. But the search goes on, not in distant and exotic lands but in laboratories around the world.

The frenzy to live longer:

A higher wisdom probably stopped Ponce de Leon from finding his quest if taken against the backdrop of current thinking of what “living longer,” or “anti-aging” really means. For one, extending the average life-span is not the same as extending the maximum life span and extending life span is not the same as preventing degenerative changes brought about by growing old.

But impetus man is, he forges on, more for business reasons than a real desire to live longer, to search for that “magic” to allow him to live longer than his current average life span.

Laboratory fountains of youth (adapted from Science-Based Medicine):

Keeping people young and living longer is a billion-dollar industry. Among others, the following have been shown promise to allow man to live longer:

1.  Anti-oxidants:

This is very common to the point of being a household word. But what are they?

They are substances or nutrients in the food we eat that prevent or slow down the oxidative damage to the body. When the body cells use oxygen, harmful free radicals (by-products) are produced. These anti-oxidants act as “scavengers” preventing damage such as heart disease, macular degeneration, diabetes, cancer etc (HealthCastle.com)

However their effects are modified by many factors, that they can harm as well as help. Raising their levels with supplements may even turn off some of the body’s natural defenses.

2.   Telomerase:

This is more difficult to take, er, understand. This is an enzyme that keeps the ends of chromosomes from fraying due to age and chromosomes are “packages” that contain genetic information we got from our parents.

Research showed that drugs that tamper with telomerase is a potential carcinogen.

3.  Calorie restriction (CR):

A dietary regimen that restricts calorie intake, the baseline figure of which varies, generally being the previous amounts before the diet. It has been shown to improve age-related health issues and to slow down aging among a wide range of animals and some fungi - except humans. On-going studies are done with human subjects. Meantime, unless one wants to be a mouse or fungi, it is best to be contented with one’s age.

4.  Resveratrol and Rapamycin:

Resveratrol is a phytoalexin (antimicrobial substance) produced naturally by several plants when attacked by pathogens such as bacteria and fungi.

It is also found in the skin of red grapes and is a constituent of red wine. Its amount, however, is not enough to explain why the French Paradox.

Rapamycin is an immunosuppressant drug used to prevent rejection in organ transplants, especially with kidneys. It was first discovered as a product of the bacterium, Streptomyces hygroscopicus, in a soil sample from Easter Island, also known as Rapa Nui, from whence it got its name.

Both have been found to have health benefits such as cancer suppression but trials in anti-aging are mainly done on animals. Trials on human beings have been on very limited scale making their results highly unreliable.

Do I want to live longer?

A guy I play tennis with is 69 years old and he considers reaching 70 as a bonus. And I agree with him. It is a real blessing and a reason to be thankful to wake up each morning. Without having to worry about living longer than I am now, I think I shall make it until most of the people I grew up with shall be gone. By then, it will be a really lonely world that living longer is not a very exciting thing to even think about.