Anti-Aging Magic Pill?

Is there a magic pill that could help anti-aging? Researchers, led by Dr. David Sinclair of Harvard University, claimed in the Cell, a medical journal, that there is a possibility that the magic pill could not only fight aging by helping your body create more anti-aging defenses, but that the same pill could cure several diseases simultaneously.

Their studies showed that animals lived longer while fed very low calorie diets. Therefore, their research was trying to duplicate, in the form of a pill instead of fasting, this low calorie diet.

Sirtuins are the family of enzymes that are controlled by genes SIRT1, SIRT2, etc.
Mitochondria are tiny organs that provide cells with energy.

In layman's terms, aging is controlled by sirtuin genes SIRT3, SIRT4 which make proteins that keep us healthy and young but as we get older, these become less efficient. Says Sinclair, "They are also very important for keeping the cells healthy and alive when they undergo stress and DNA damage, as we undergo every day during the aging process.”

Their research showed that sirtuins helped to preserve the mitochondria and even when a cell is destroyed, as long as the mitochondria are alive, it can continue to function. Furthermore, fasting raises the levels of NAD, another protein which activates the sirtuin genes hence keeping the mitochondria young.

Sinclair and his team are aiming at a magic pill that would increase the NAD protein and/or the sirtuin genes in the mitochondria which would slow the aging process and age-related diseases such as cancer, osteoporosis, heart disease.

At this time, there is already an experimental pill that is currently being tested. So the question remains, is there really a magic pill that could help anti-aging? Well, it remains to be seen, but it seems as though they may be on the right track.