Fast-Paced Look at Slowing Aging Process
Ah, to be old again.
According to “Scientific American Frontiers’ ” presentation of “Never Say Die” (PBS tonight at 8) on KCET-TV, that might be the mantra of baby boomers as they live far beyond the current confines of old age. “Right now, a lot of serious, smart scientists are saying” it could be possible to double or even triple our life spans, says smart, semi-serious host Alan Alda.
“Never Say Die” is an intriguing, fast-paced look at the front lines of aging (or anti-aging) research, featuring the right amount of excitement without crossing into the realm of science fiction. And Alda, sometimes irritating as an actor, is terrifically enthusiastic and inquisitive as our guide into this brave old world.
He begins by visiting Dr. Roy Walford, the UCLA guru of the reduced caloric diet who claims that eating an extremely low-calorie but high-nutrition diet can extend one’s life span. Alda unpacks his own healthful lunch of a turkey and tomato sandwich with an apple for dessert; but after Walford evaluates its nutritional content, Alda feels as if he’s just gorged himself on pepperoni pizza and chocolate mousse.
Walford, seen in some circles as merely an eccentric, appears to be gaining credibility. Most notably, his protege, Rick Weindruch, is obtaining dramatic results in his University of Wisconsin lab by placing rhesus monkeys on very low-calorie diets.
The monkeys, like low-cal mice in Walford’s own experiments, appear to be aging much more slowly than their counterparts on regular diets: A 17-year-old monkey was the healthy equivalent of a 4-year-old. They bounce around with far more energy and seem happier (two characteristics that the low-key Walford seemed to be curiously lacking during his meeting with Alda).
According to the theory, reduced calorie intake somehow limits the activity of free radicals, an oxygen-related reaction that increasingly shoots holes in our cells as we age.
Another key to cellular aging is the breakdown of telomeres, protective tips on the ends of chromosomes. But at Geron Corp. in Menlo Park, one of the leaders in telomere research, scientists are implanting a gene into broken-down human telomeres (in test tubes) that restores their youthful vigor. And at nearby UC San Francisco, researcher Cynthia Kenyon is quadrupling the life span of nematodes by making a subtle change in one of their genes.
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Alda also drops in on MIT scientists who are working on a new generation of replacement body parts and visits Massachusetts General psychologist Marilyn Albert, who, in work with 1,200 aging Americans, has found that keeping the brain stimulated is the key to retaining one’s mental sharpness in the later years. “The old saying ‘Use it or lose it’ really is true,” she says.
If their most optimistic predictions are right, we (or more likely our descendants) could be living to 140 or even 200 years of age. Alda discloses that he has always wanted to live to 106 but now maybe “should set my sights higher.”
Is there a time limit on “MASH” residuals?
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* “Never Say Die” can be seen tonight at 8 on KCET-TV.
