X-Message-Number: 18833 From: Date: Mon, 18 Mar 2002 22:38:32 EST Subject: Re: CryoNet #18814 - #18822 In a message dated 3/16/02 5:00:50 AM, writes: << Message #18817 Date: Fri, 15 Mar 2002 09:40:08 EST From: Subject: cure for aging - Charles Platt Well, I agree with everything you said, Charles. There is a "quick fix", but it is economic and social, not technical. It involves billions of people working together in a market system to produce all the little fixes, largely using techniques that we don't have yet. BTW, Creative Biomolecules can make the tooth protein (the mineral part is fairly simple chemistry), so a visit to a "tooth sculptor" every twenty years could keep your teeth built up (after we do the telomere extension on the cells in the tooth root...) The eye lens is a toughie. First of all antioxidants will preserve your existing lens for twice as long or so (you have been taking them since birth, right?) Hmmm... then we have to grow you a new eye, I think. >> The eye lens is no "toughie." Very servicable plastic substitutes have been implanted for years now. Millions of North Americans, Europeans, Japanese, and Australians [i.e. all first worlders] have them, restoring sight to a crisp 20/20 into their '80's and '90's. I also doubt that regrowing organic lenses will be much of a challenge within the next few years. We can also remold the cornea with lasers at will to correct virtually any refractive condition. The much tougher eye problems are with the retina, really an extension of the brain. If you are lucky enough to live into your mid nineties, you will also very likely have the bad luck to lose your central vision which will drive you crazy. The blood-brain barrier in the eye is a thin membrane which breaks down in very old age, allowing leakage from the choroid into the seeing part of the eye, especially in the center ["macula"]. The result is a congealed mess which we call "age-related macular degeneration." Even here, however, we are making modest progress, and the National Eye Institute, part of the NIH, spends millions in this area every year. Progress on the many aspects of the eye and vision has really been impressive over the whole of the twentieth century and stands as a model for other areas. I speak with some knowledge as a practicing optometrist with a lot of recent training and study in ocular disease and co-management of Lasik, cataract, diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, and other conditions. Ron Havelock PhD, OD (just call me "doctor doctor", but I would be very happy if I could shed one off and award it to Prof Robert Ettinger, far more deserving than I for any such honor). Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=18833