This is heartening and it really made me excited to read an article about rapamycin, a drug that can extend the healthy life of test animals. It was successful in mice and they have started testing it with dogs, getting encouraging results. It's not exactly the longevity but the length of a healthy life that is free from old age diseases like diabetes and hypertension. As per the article, the tested dog seemed to be move faster. However, there is no plan yet to test the drug with humans because they still have to determine if there might be some bad side effects. But I'm sure there would be lots of volunteer for that testing process. For the complete article, there is the link - http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/17/us/aging-research-disease-dogs.html?_r=0
@Corie Henson Rapamycin is involved in a whole bunch of various antibiotic and other anti-inflammatory preparations. It is a "macrolide", produced by a bacterium. It has immunosuppressive qualities, and is used in organ transplant therapy to prevent rejection. "System Adverse effects Body as a Whole Sepsis, lymphocele, herpes zoster infection, herpes simplex infection Cardiovascular Venous thromboembolism (pulmonary embolism and deep venous thrombosis), rapid heart rate Digestive Stomatitis Hematologic/Lymphatic Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura/hemolytic uremic syndrome (TTP/HUS), leukopenia Metabolic Abnormal healing, increased lactic dehydrogenase (LDH), hypokalemia, diabetes Musculoskeletal Bone necrosis Respiratory Pneumonia, epistaxis Skin Melanoma, squamous cell carcinoma, basal cell carcinoma Urogenital Pyelonephritis, ovarian cysts, menstrual disorders (amenorrhea and menorrhagia) " Looking at the above list frightened me. Frank
As far as taking a questionable drug to extent your life. There are things that have show life increase in lab animals and are natural trace minerals. Europium-- Doubles the life span of laboratory animals Neodymium-- Doubles the life span of laboratory animals Praseodymium -- Doubles the life span of laboratory animals Thulium -- Doubles the life span of laboratory animals Yttrium -- Doubles the life span of laboratory animals
@Martin Alonzo Amazing! Note, that: "Neodymium compounds, as with all rare earth metals, are of low to moderate toxicity; however, its toxicity has not been thoroughly investigated. Neodymium dust and salts are very irritating to the eyes and mucous membranes, and moderately irritating to skin. Breathing the dust can cause lung embolisms, and accumulated exposure damages the liver. Only Neodymium and Yttrium are "Rare Earth Elements", I believe; the others are all Lanthanides As with anything beneficial to us, moderation is usually a paramount to consider. Frank