(2010-07-14) Hall Life Extension Youth Pill Review

Harriet Hall reviews David Stripp's Youth Pill book on research on Life Extension.

We don’t even have a handle on why we die, why we deteriorate over time, or how it could benefit “selfish genes” for women to live past menopause.

The most promising idea is severe Calorie Restriction (CR). It prolongs life in several species, but this effect has not yet been verified in humans. And it is inconsistent and may have different effects at different ages and in different individuals. CR lowers body temperature and fertility and has other side effects. It is not an option most people would willingly choose.

Futurist Ray Kurzweil takes handfuls of supplement pills and spends one day a week getting IVs and other treatments at a longevity clinic and he is convinced this regimen will keep him alive until science finds a way to keep him alive forever. The author of The Youth Pill is more conservative. He is enthusiastic about the promising research on pills like resveratrol and rapamycin, but he’s reluctant to start taking them “until enough clinical data are available to let me make a reasonably well-informed decision about optimal dosing.” Me too.