Lifeboat Foundation

Time to reimagine aging.

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Classifying aging as a disease, the debate is hotting up as ICD11 at WHO draws near.

What is considered to be normal and what is considered to be diseased is strongly influenced by historical context (Moody, 2001/2002). Matters once considered to be diseases are no longer classified as such. For example, when black slaves ran away from plantations they were labeled to suffer from drapetomania and medical treatment was used to try to “cure” them (Reznek, 1987). Similarly, masturbation was seen as a disease and treated with treatments such as cutting away the clitoris or cauterizing it (Reznek, 1987). Finally, homosexuality was considered a disease as recently as 1974 (Reznek, 1987). In addition to the social and cultural influence on disease definition, new scientific and medical discoveries lead to the revision of what is a disease and what is not (Butler, 2008). For example, fever was once seen as a disease in its own right but the realization that different underlying causes would lead to the appearance of fever changed its status from disease to symptom (Reznek, 1987). Conversely, several currently recognized diseases, such as osteoporosis, isolated systolic hypertension, and senile Alzheimer’s disease, were in the past ascribed to normal aging (Izaks and Westendorp, 2003; Gems, 2011). Osteoporosis was only officially recognized as a disease in 1994 by the World Health Organization (WHO, 1994).

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How society can profit from treating age-related diseases.

We’re now living longer than ever – only to suffer from diseases of old age. New therapies promise a new lease of life for the elderly – and big profits for investors, says Matthew Partridge.

Over the past century, average life expectancy in most countries has grown substantially. Vastly lower infant mortality, improved living standards, better public sanitation, and the discovery of cures or vaccines for many once-deadly diseases, have seen average life expectancy in most developed nations rise to around 80, compared with 50 in 1900. Developing nations have benefited too. Life expectancy in China, for example, was just 43 in 1960 – it’s 75 today. Indeed, according to the World Health Organisation, no individual nation outside Africa now has a life expectancy of below 60, and even Africa has seen huge gains since 2000, helped by improved anti-malarial measures and wider availability of HIV/Aids treatments.

Continue reading “How we can profit from winning the battle against ageing” »

Pesquisadores da Human Longevity, Inc. Publicou documentos detalhando resultados do sequenciamento profundo de 10.545 genomas humanos.

Documento descreve 150 milhões de variantes raras ou desconhecidas; cerca de 8.500 novas variantes por genoma.

Companhia também anuncia novo motor de pesquisa do genoma, HLI Open Search, para testes beta.

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My new story for TechCrunch on why a new generation of kids might “really” love robots. What would Freud say?

Robots intrigue us. We all like them. But most of us don’t love them. That may dramatically change over the next 10 years as the “robot nanny” makes its way into our households.

In as little time as a decade, affordable robots that can bottle-feed babies, change diapers and put a child to sleep might be here. The human-machine bond that a new generation of kids grows up with may be unbreakable. We may end up literally loving our machines almost like we do our mothers and fathers.

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More progress in repairing damage to the cornea which could have implications for aging research as well as for injury.

Media Contacts: Suzanne Day Media Relations, Mass. Eye and Ear 617−573−3897 Suzanne_Day@meei.harvard.edu

New findings may pave the way for the development of pharmaceutical therapies to reverse corneal scarring

Continue reading “Researchers shed light on repair mechanism for severe corneal injuries” »

Interesting article that suggests Acne sufferers may live longer.

Spotty teenagers may have the last laugh over their peers with perfect skin after research found that those who suffer from acne are likely to live longer.

Their cells have a built-in protection against ageing which is likely to make them look better in later life, a study has found.

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How we can use CRISPR/Cas9 to treat the processes of aging.

Oliver Medvedik, Cofounder of the Life Extension Advocacy Foundation and the Lifespan.io Crowdfunding platform, discusses the CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing system in depth and highlights how it may be used to help overcome the diseases and disabilities of aging. He also gives an overview of other promising areas in aging research, such as senescent cell-clearing drugs, or “senolytics”, and “augmentive” compounds that may help restore the body to youthful functionality.

Continue reading “CRISPR Cas9: Will it Cure Aging? — Talk” »

In Brief.

• Researchers underwent a massive study to estimate a person’s lifespan based on their biological age.
• The results could explain why, even if you lead a healthy life, you might still die before you turn 100.