Putative Interventions

Abstract

The sections in this article are: Criteria for Claiming Retardation of Aging Processes Life Span Extension Modulation of Functional, Structural, and Morphological Changes as Evidence for Aging Retardation Modulation of Pathology Dietary Restriction, A Robust Antiaging Intervention Historical Notes Dietary Restriction, an Aging Intervention Population Mortality Characteristics Age‐Related Disease Processes Physiological Characteristics Cellular Actions Modulation of the Aging Process by Other Interventions Antioxidant Feeding Deprenyl Melatonin Hypophysectomy Dehydroepiandrosterone Concluding Remarks

When Will The Biology of Aging Become Useful? Future Landmarks in Biomedical Gerontology

“…It has been known for more than 50 years that rodents, if fed a nutritionally complete diet that contains about 40% fewer calories than they would choose to consume given free access to food, live up to 50% longer than rats or mice on an ad libitum diet. This lifespan extension, a robust phenomenon that has now been repeated in dozens of laboratories using many different strains of mice and rats, does not merely represent a retardation of one or a small group of lethal diseases but seems to involve a genuine deceleration of the aging process as a whole in that a very wide range of biochemical, genetic, and physiological concomitants of aging seem to be retarded in parallel 5,25 . Although the largest effects are seen when the restricted diet is begun early in life, restriction extends lifespan even when imposed in middle‐age 26 .…”

Can antioxidant supplementation slow the aging process?

“…Concepts of the aging process have evolved substantially from the simple beginnings of genetic programming to current concepts of complex, multifactorial premises. The proposed major factors of the aging now include errors in the genetic information process, altered genetic structures, neuronal deterioration, or failures in the integration of hormonal interactions [1,2]. Together, these theories led us to accept that the basic biochemical mechanisms underlying the irreversible, lifetime processes of aging are multifactorial in cause, a result of interactive modulation between the intrinsic genetic and extrinsic environmental factors.…”

“…Humans, in their preoccupation with life extension, have throughout time sought the elixir of life [1]. Ancient records reveal that people have not spared their imaginations in attempts to prolong life, only to be frustrated by a myriad of false claims.…”

“…Among the first aging interventions tested was dietary antioxidant supplementation [1]. Since these early studies, antioxidant supplements have gained the widespread public perception that they are beneficial to good health based on a belief that certain vitamins can stave-off degenerative diseases such as cancer, heart disease, and other chronic maladies.…”