Most people held the attitude of "leaving it to fate, not up to oneself" when it came to longevity and healthy longevity. Some people even called it "wishful thinking" when mentioning longevity, confusing it with "immortality".
However, they failed to realize that modern scientists' understanding of the operating principles of life at the molecular and protein levels far surpasses the empiricism of alchemists.
1. The path to longevity: Seek within, not without.
Dating back 400,000 to 500,000 years ago, the average human lifespan was 15 years, but by 2025, human lifespan will exceed 70 years.
Although the extension of human lifespan is partly due to genetic evolution, advancements in medical interventions and good nutrition are undoubtedly key factors in promoting our longevity.
Wang Shi's statement at the Yabuli Forum, "People don't need to live past 100 years old, but living to 80 or 90 should be commonplace," may be bold, but if people can live to 100 years old and remain healthy and independent with the help of scientific treatment and intervention, only fools would want to "die fast".
According to scientists' calculations, the theoretical maximum human lifespan can reach 125 years.
2. Turn the "Biological Clock" Back
Timely and appropriate intervention to reduce the accumulation of aging factors caused by increasing age will effectively slow down the cascading aging effects caused by local aging.
For example, the erosion of surrounding normal cells by senescence-associated factors released by senescent cells, and the permanent cumulative damage to surrounding organs caused by injury to a single organ.
So, when should the intervention begin?
According to a report by The Independent in the UK, the clock of life aging starts ticking down from the fetal period.
If you still don't know how to turn back your "biological clock" by middle age, you are indeed unwilling to have an affinity with "longevity".
When is the "right time"?
Research has found that 34, 50, and 78 years old are the three key watershed moments of "cliff-like" aging in the human body.
Recently, a study showed that a person's biological age is a dynamic process that can increase with external pressures (such as traumatic surgery, pregnancy, COVID-19 virus infection, etc.) [1].
Therefore, intervening in our "biological clock" to the best of our ability at appropriate time points and occasions will, to a certain extent, prolong our lives. Maybe 30 years old is a pretty good intervention point!
3. Opening the Back Cover, Adjusting the "Clock" from the Source
What is "appropriate"? The appropriateness of the means is closely related to the outcome of the intervention.
Due to the differences in each individual's physical condition and living environment, the factors contributing to aging also vary greatly.
Therefore, personalized intervention strategies may avoid excessive intervention while achieving twice the results with half the effort and being cost-effective.
We can focus on three aspects:
(1) Eliminating chronic diseases and relieving mental stress.
Chronic diseases are important factors that cause long-term inflammatory microenvironments in the body, and many people suffer from various chronic diseases such as hypertension, hyperlipidemia, fatty liver, diabetes, etc.
Studies have shown that inflammation is a driving factor of body aging, and the aging of the immune system is a driving factor of body aging, at the same time, long-term suffering from chronic diseases can cause extremely high mental stress, leading to a significant increase in a person's biological age.
In this regard, adjustments can be made using antihypertensive drugs, hypoglycemic drugs, metformin, reasonable dietary combinations, appropriate social interaction, and exercise to relieve mental stress.
(2) Using supplements to alleviate the decline of key physiological functions.
For example, supplementing NMN or NR. As people age, the level of NAD+ in the body decreases significantly. NAD+ is a coenzyme of many dehydrogenases in the body, connecting the tricarboxylic acid cycle and the respiratory chain.
It is the coenzyme that billions of cells in the human body rely on for physiological activities and metabolism. As early as 2013, Professor David Sinclair of Harvard Medical School demonstrated through experiments that supplementing NMN, a precursor of NAD+, can delay aging.
Although there are reports indicating conflicts between the effects of NMN or NR in mouse models and clinical trials, more evidence confirms that NMN and NR can effectively improve the body's physiological functions and benefit the body to varying degrees.
In addition, the efficacy of NMN in preventing mitochondrial dysfunction-related diseases remains to be explored. Apart from NMN and NR supplements, several recent studies have reported the important role of natural products in delaying aging, such as Pterocarpus santalinus, lycopene, anthocyanins, quercetin, Gynostemma pentaphyllum polysaccharides, etc.
These natural products can improve the microenvironment of normal functional cells in the body and delay aging by reducing the level of peroxides in the body, lowering the level of oxidative stress, and enhancing DNA damage repair.
(3) Repairing aging caused by epigenetic modification abnormalities.
In January 2023, David Sinclair published an article stating that the loss of epigenetic information is an important cause of mammalian aging.
Similar to biological age, a person's epigenetic information is constantly changing from birth to death. These changes include positive resistance to adverse microenvironments and harmful adaptations to deteriorating microenvironments.
Even identical twins with highly similar genetic DNA sequences can have huge differences in their epigenetic modification patterns, body types, aging rates, and lifespans due to differences in their environments (including work stress, diet, etc.), indicating that epigenetic modifications may be the key underlying code controlling DNA damage, cell abnormalities, and organ aging.
Therefore, using existing means to keep a person's epigenetic modifications in a more youthful and healthier state may be an effective way to slow down or even inhibit aging. However, this "younger" or "healthier" "code book" may require a long time of theoretical and practical proof.
