X-Message-Number: 12377 From: Thomas Donaldson <> Subject: about drugs prolonging lifespan Date: Tue, 7 Sep 1999 10:53:44 +1000 (EST) To Brian M Delaney and others: Yes, at one time I did say that work on CR seemed to be restricted to verifying that it did indeed prolong lifespans. However times change, and I would not say that now. And by now there have been several experiments aimed at working out the reasons why CR has the effect it does. A recent one by Weindruch et al in SCIENCE stands out here. Finally, you have produced a good list. You do omit several earlier experiments, on panthothenic acid, pyridoxine (both vitamins), cysteine, procaine (this experiment was done by Anna Arslan AFTER all the US doctors poured scorn on her experiments with people) and finally various antioxidants such as BHT, and for that matter Vitamin E. DMAE does have POSITIVE experiments, too, by Richard Hochschild. They were done on dimethylaminoethyl ACETAMINOBENZOATE. Several others using other chemical combinations of DMAE were successful, to various degrees. A negative experiment with other chemical combinations with DMAE becomes all the more interesting because of these. You also included several substances which I am working on for an Update of my book, too (though there are some which look very hard to get in practice, and I may only mention them). Epithalamin is particularly interesting theoretically because Pierpaoli believes that melatonin (also from the pineal gland) has its effects not because of antioxidant effect but for deeper reasons. Epithalamin suggests that we look much more closely at the pineal gland (the experiments specifically took care to remove melatonin from the solutions used). Unfortunately epithalamin looks very hard to get in practice. Several others you mention, such as PBN, also look hard to get. There is also a recent successful experiment on an extract of Ginkgo. (This was originally pointed out by Doug Skrecky). My interest in antioxidants comes because there are many many antioxidants, most of which have NOT been tested for their effect on longevity. Given that some of these may prove much better than those now tested, they deserve testing. BHT does prolong lifespan, however, and some people have taken it for prolonged periods (Durk Pearson and Sandy Shaw among them). As those who have my book (A GUIDE TO ANTIAGING DRUGS) will know, it does more than simply list drugs which prolong lifespan in animals. I try to look at reported side effects in human beings, possible conflicts with other drugs you might be taking, what is known about dosage, and other issues which anyone seriously thinking of taking them should consider. That is why Updates about a given drug don't appear immediately after I learn of an experiment showing an increase in lifespan. My search of papers about ginkgo, for instance, revealed at least one possibly (but rarely) fatal side effect, with suggestions about who might be susceptible to it. In any case, thanks for publishing your list. For many people CR is just too hard, not just for reasons of Will but also in practice (for instance, when invited out to dinner, it can be hard to refuse or insist on a specially designed meal --- and some such invitations can be very important indeed). Moreover, increased longevity due to a drug may be easier to find the causes of than that due to CR. Best and long long life to all, Thomas Donaldson Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=12377