Researchers stumbled onto a simple way to slow the biological forces of aging in the 1930s: cutting normal calorie intake by about a third.
Scientists found it boosts animals' life spans by 30% to 40%, and considerable evidence suggests that calorie restriction ("CR") would slow human aging, too. Now, scientists and bio-tech ventures are rekindling interest in CR as they try to mimic its antiaging effects with medicines. It is still a highly speculative quest.
Much of the new focus is on a substance in red wine called resveratrol. The interest in it started three years ago when a group led by Harvard Medical School biologist David Sinclair reported that it boosted yeast cells' life spans by 70% via a mechanism resembling CR.
Some researchers believe antiaging drugs could also improve health in late life--rather than prolong misery--letting people stay in relatively good shape until a swift demise. Still, some experts on aging doubt that enough is known about CR to guide the development of drugs that mimic its effects. "We know a lot about CR's effects," says Edward Masoro, a leading gerontologist. "But what bothers me is that I don't think we've figured out CR's basic mechanism yet."
Source: The Wall Street Journal, October 30, 2006