• Researchers Discover The Lean Body Hormone That Dramatically Prolongs Life Of Laboratory Animals, But A Drawback Keeps It From Becoming An Anti-Aging Agent. But There Are Shortcuts.

    Posted October 19, 2012: by Bill Sardi

    Since its initial discovery in 2000 by researchers in Japan, the hormone known as fibroblast growth factor-21 (FGF21) has intrigued biologists and endocrinologists.  Mouse FGF21 is highly identical to human FGF21, making it useful for laboratory comparison.

    It didn’t take long for investigators to realize FGF21 is a “novel therapeutic agent for human metabolism” in the regulation of sugar utilization, particularly in fat cells (adipocytes) in the liver.  Therapeutic provision of FGF21 to laboratory mice reduces blood sugar levels and these animals are resistant to obesity.  And FGF21 does not induce hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), cancer or weight gain at any tested dose in diabetic or healthy animals. Biologists were beginning to think of it as an ideal hormone/drug to treat diabetes.

    Read the whole post »

    Posted in Anti-Aging ; No Comments »

  • What Nutrient Just Slid Past Resveratrol To Gain Recognition As The Top-Rated Anti-Aging Molecule?

    Posted April 2, 2012: by Bill Sardi

    In the past decade or so red-wine resveratrol has been the most intensively studied anti-aging molecule. Resveratrol’s calling is that of a molecular mimic of a calorie-restricted diet that has been found to double the lifespan of all life forms tested.

    Despite all the research, the confirmation of the first anti-aging pill has been elusive if for no other reason than the impracticality of conducting a long-term study to validate such an idea. The only conclusive evidence would be a long-term (many decades long) study. Many thousands of people would have to be followed for 8-10 decades to produce convincing data.

    Read the whole post »

    Posted in Anti-Aging, Dietary Supplements, Resveratrol, Vitamins ; No Comments »

  • Should humanity be afraid to live longer?

    Posted November 1, 2011: by Bill Sardi

    Commentary: futurist Sonia Arrison and author of 100 PLUS, writes a cogent movie review about the new sci-fi thriller IN TIME and used it to bring a major question to the fore. Should humanity be afraid to live longer? Arrison brings up the reality of longevity — it is a rich man’s game, at least so far. In the movie IN TIME people are allotted a few years to live and then must work to earn more time on the earth or be exterminated. Maybe an anti-aging pill would be dispensed after a day’s labor to keep people alive.

    However you don’t need an anti-aging pill to produced dramatic increases in life expectancy. What is needed for most of the world is public hygiene, clean water, available food (hopefully fortified with essential nutrients) and small number of medicines with antibiotics at the top.

    Read the whole post »

    Posted in Anti-Aging ; No Comments »

  • All Roads Lead To & Away From Resveratrol

    Posted September 30, 2011: by Bill Sardi

    All roads to adult wellness and longevity lead to resveratrol, but the public isn’t buying it. An estimated 345 producers of dietary supplements have all raced to enter their version of resveratrol pills into the marketplace, but not much more than 100,000 American take these red wine pills. It is inexplicable why resveratrol continues to astound in the research laboratory but physicians are loathe to recommend it and consumers reticent to take this pill that may be the pill that ends all other pills.

    The broad biological scope of the red wine molecule resveratrol is becoming legendary. Dr. Dipak Das at the University of Connecticut has documented the large number of genes that resveratrol controls. Resveratrol is beneficial for brain, heart, liver, blood circulation, immunity, cholesterol, blood clotting, etc, etc. It is difficult to address the breadth of resveratrol’s biological action without writing an encyclopedia.

    Read the whole post »

    Posted in Anti-Aging, Dietary Supplements, Health Care System ; 1 Comment »

  • What If There Really Were an Anti-Aging Pill?

    Posted August 24, 2010: by Bill Sardi

    In 1998 author Scott Van De Mark wrote a novel entitled Elixir, which was about a biologist who invented a youth pill. The novel wasn’t so much about the pill but the enormous opposition to it.

    In the book, Dan McEllis, the name of the scientist who invented the pill, won a Nobel Prize, acquired a drug company to market his pill, became a billionaire, and had millions of Americans taking his youth pill for $199 a month.

    But this fictional scientist also had his product banned by the Catholic Church, initially opposed by the American Medical Association and population control groups, temporarily removed from sale by the Food & Drug Administration, and faced a Constitutional Amendment against it.

    Read the whole post »

    Posted in Anti-Aging ; No Comments »