Tek-Bull

New Drug Could Extend your Life by 10 to 20 Years.

The fountain of youth may forever be a fable, but the “medicine” of youth might be a different story. Currently there are two ways to increase our life, genetic engineering, and calorie restriction. Both of those things are achievable, but, not very practical, plus who in the world want’s to put restrictions on their calories??  But, like every other scientist, a couple of them may have accidentally stumbled onto a drug that can extend your life by 10 years to 20 years.

The drug is called Rapamycin, it is extracted from a bacteria that can only be found on Easter Island, go figure right? Apparently, when mice were given the drug during their 20 months of age, or the equivalent of 60 years in human age, they actually received an extra 8%-13% of life bonus. So it’s more like a small Medic Pack rather than a full 1Up mushroom, but that works for me.

Scientist still have no Idea as to how rapamycin works, or how and why it works. They think that the medicine works the same way as calorie restriction, but they are not 100% sure. They have done enough testing to know that it works in mice, fruit flies, yeast, and nematode worms, meaning that it has a common enough “thing” (what ever it is) to say there is a pretty good chance it’s going to work on humans as well.

But like everything else, there is one catch, rapamycin does have a pretty bad side effect. The Drug suppresses your immune system, meaning that if you take it, you MAY live longer, but at the same time you MAY get sick with Fungal infections, pneumonia, bacterial infections, and other viruses or diseases.

“Realistically,” says Kaeberlein, “I think what most of us are hoping for, and are somewhat optimistic about, is the idea that you may be able to get an extra decade — possibly an extra two decades — of relatively good health.”

So we’re heading int he right direction, I’m young enough to wait another 50 or so years before I try a drug to give me more life. If it doesn’t happen by then, I’ll give this a shot. If I die from pneumonia… oh well, I’ll be 80 anyways.

Via Technology Review