Soon, a pill to add 25 years to your life
Life expectancy has increased over the years all throughout
the globe more or less depending on factors such as weather, food habits, cleanliness, environment, life habits, medical facility, etc. The tendency to improve life as a whole can be attributed to this enhancement of survival age. In addition, efforts are on to find out ways to further increasing the
life expectancy incessantly. Scientists in the related fields are trying to understand the exact mechanism of aging and subsequent death. And, in this respect, they have come across a molecule called spermidine, which would protect human body from damaging chemicals known as free radicals.
Dr. Franko Madeo of University of Graz in Austria expects this finding would help creating a drug that will slow down the aging process permitting people remain healthier for a longer period. With this, the half of the people in Britain will live 100 years or more, which is about 20 years more than the average life now. Cells in the body die systematically in complex processes and aging occurs, he informed The Daily Express.
Spermidine has showed improved results in flies, worms, yeast, and human cells so far. It is also associated with the lessening of growth and maturation of human cell. Spermidine is necessary for cell growth and maturation, but it is not clear whether this is the reason of aging or not, he opined.
Old yeast cells treated with this chemical increased their life span four times compared to untreated cells. Fruit-flies and nematode worms increased their longevity by 30% and 15% respectively with the treatment of these chemicals. In the laboratory test of human immune blood cells culture, only 15% survived after 12 days, where as 50% survived when treated with spermidine. On mice, the test was conducted by feeding this chemical along with water for 200 days. It was found that free radicals in those mice reduced by 30%.
Out of all acknowledged theories on aging, free radical theory is the most established one because of its accumulating oxidative stress, said Madeo. Overall, spermidine can hold back the aging as the data of the above mentioned tests indicate, he stressed.