Can Aging be Reversed

Can Aging be Reversed or Delayed?
Aging is a fact of nature. Everything ages and eventually dies. For people living today this is often a source of fear and anxiety because death, as Shakespeare pointed out, is the “undiscovered country from whose bourn no traveler returns”—in other words, the final point of life that so little is actually known about (Easwaran, 1996). People with faith in an afterlife tend to have less anxiety about death, but faith is not enjoyed by everyone (Alvarado, Templer, Bresler & Thomas-Dobson, 1995). Those who want to put off death as long as possible turn to de-aging techniques and strategies, hoping to delay the inevitable. This paper will discuss the reality of aging and address the assumptions that 1) Aging cannot be reversed; and 2) Aging can be delayed; however, the average person could not afford the cost of treatments to delay aging because one would need a lot of money to engage in delaying treatments.
The first assumption—that aging cannot be reversed—has been challenged by a group of Japanese scientists who think they may have discovered a “switch” that can reverse the aging process. As Mack (2015) notes, “researchers in Japan have found that human aging may be able to be delayed or even reversed, at least at the most basic level of human cell lines.” Previous scientists had theorized that aging was the result of a mutation in the DNA structure. What the researchers in Japan discovered was that there was no mutation to be found: they compared the DNA of elderly persons with the DNA of 12 year olds and found the sequence structure to be the same. The only difference was reduced cellular respiration, which the researchers linked to epigenetic regulation—basically “changes that alter the physical structure of DNA without affecting the DNA sequence itself, causing genes to be turned on or off” (Mack, 2015). In essence, all that may be required to reverse the aging process is for someone to flip the switch of a kind of genetic breaker box in human cells.
The researchers tested the theory by isolating two genes that retained mitochondrial functionality. The scientists flipped the switches on the genes and were able to both create defects and restore the cells’ respiration. As Mack (2015) notes, “in one of the more promising findings, a 97-year-old cell line saw its cellular respiration restored after the addition of glycine for 10 days.” The idea that glycine supplements could one day hold the secret to the reversal of the aging process is certainly an unexpected surprise for many in the science community.
The team of researchers noted that while the findings are intriguing more work is yet required, starting with more experimentations in the laboratory: “To confirm this hypothesis model mice deficient in GCAT or SHMT2, or both, would need to be generated to examine whether they expressed respiration defects and premature aging phenotypes and, if so, whether these disorders could be prevented by continuous glycine administration” (Hashizume et al., 2015). The continuation of this research will possibly show whether aging can in fact be reversed simply by flipping a switch. Thus, the verdict is still out on the first assumption. However, at the very least one would have to express reticence in affirming the impossibility of reversing the aging process based upon the intriguing findings of Hashizume et al. (2015).
But can aging at least be delayed? Quick (2015) suggests that it can. Researchers know that the older people become the more cells that have stopped dividing build up in the body. These are known as senescent cells and in lab mice scientists have been able to expand the healthy lives of mice by killing off senescent cells. Thus, they have sought to see if the same thing can be replicated in human beings.
The researchers turned to dasatinib and quercetin, the former a cancer drug and the latter a natural antihistamine. Combined together the two compounds were able to eliminate senescent cells in a petri dish, so researchers moved to testing the compounds on lab mice and the results were positive (Quick, 2015). The only possible downside is that there may be side effects to long-term use of the compound. While there is still more research to be done, the evidence thus far indicates that the aging process could be delayed for people without it needing to be expensive—or at least too expensive. The cost of Sprycel, the name of the cancer drug dasatinib, is nearly $8,000 for 60 tablets (Drugs, 2019). Though this is quite probably about two months’ salary for many, Sprycel is covered by Medicare—the question is: would it be covered if it were being used for age delaying purposes rather than for combating cancer? If so that would certainly put this drug out of many people’s price range. On the other hand, quercetin is a natural compound and can be obtained cheaply. Indeed, Liu, Yu and Ning (2006) have indicated that quercetin is a natural anti-aging pharmaceutical product. This would mean that the average person could use quercetin to delay the aging process without having to take out a mortgage.
These studies indicate that the assumptions made about reversing or delaying the aging process were shown to be problematic and uninformed. There is a lot of potential for reversing the aging process and for delaying the aging process with the right combination of drugs. More research is needed for both but so far the results are promising. At least, the door is not closed on the age reversing idea or on age delaying pharmacy.
Does that mean that the world is any closer to a Fountain of Youth? In reality, no. There is still a great deal that scientists do not know about the aging process and what causes bodies to grow old. Moreover, the potential side effects of reversing the aging process could be even worse than death if they prove to throw off the balance of the body’s systems and create extreme complications to one’s health.
Scientists may find connections that allow them to create new theories about what is going on in the body, but every step forward essentially leads to a labyrinth of ways that all end in doors behind which is a mystery waiting to be discovered. To suggest that the end of aging is at the world’s fingertips would be to get ahead of oneself at this point. The evidence only suggests that it might be possible. This thus shows that the assumptions are faulty.
To summarize, aging may be delayed or reversed—possibly—but whether it could be done safely and over a long period of time is another matter. Moreover, if the cancer drug is required to delay the aging process, it could prove expensive for many people; but if quercetin will work as well then it could be that the average person could afford the process. In reality is very likely that there are other natural compounds that can help delay the aging process by extending natural healthy functioning of the body. But at the same time it has to be remembered that with every promise of a bright future than can be serious side effects that would limit the appeal of a particular product or service for people. Just because one can delay or reverse the aging process does not mean that everything will be all right. They may be able to delay aging in some respects, for example, but not necessarily in others.
References
Alvarado, K. A., Templer, D. I., Bresler, C., & Thomas?Dobson, S. (1995). The relationship of religious variables to death depression and death anxiety. Journal of clinical psychology, 51(2), 202-204.
Drugs. (2019). Sprycel. Retrieved from https://www.drugs.com/price-guide/sprycel
Easwaran, E. (1996). The undiscovered country: Exploring the promise of death. Nilgiri Press.
Hashizume, O., Ohnishi, S., Mito, T., Shimizu, A., Ishikawa, K., Nakada, K., ... & Okita, K. (2015). Epigenetic regulation of the nuclear-coded GCAT and SHMT2 genes confers human age-associated mitochondrial respiration defects. Scientific reports, 5, 10434.
Liu, J., Yu, H., & Ning, X. (2006). Effect of quercetin on chronic enhancement of spatial learning and memory of mice. Science in China Series C: Life Sciences, 49(6), 583-590.
Mack, E. (2015). Researchers may have discovered fountain of youth by reversing aging in human cells. Retrieved from https://newatlas.com/reversal-of-aging-human-cell-lines/37721/
Quick, D. (2015). Senolytics: A new class of drugs with the potential to slow the aging process. Retrieved from https://newatlas.com/senolytics-drug-slow-aging/36472/