Fund anti-aging research better rather than do endless ‘wars on cancer’. 14

Fund anti-aging research better rather than do endless ‘wars on cancer’. 14

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Professor Kaeberlein, is there any question that I should have asked but didn't ask? Is there anything in your interest that, you know, you'd like to share with our viewers? Dr. Matt Kaeberlein, PhD. Dr. Anton Titov, MD. 


Know, I mean, I think we touched on, you know, really the most important points again, I think the thing that I would just come back to and emphasize because I think it's it's not yet commonly appreciated that. It really is biological aging that underlies the vast majority of the societally relevant disorders in developed countries. So if you think about any of the major killers in the United States, or Europe, or China, or Korea or other parts of the developed world, if you think of any of the major killers, they all have aged as their greatest risk factor. Dr. Matt Kaeberlein, PhD. Dr. Anton Titov, MD. And we now know enough about the biological processes that underlie aging that we can intervene in that process. There's certainly a lot to be learned, right? I certainly would not suggest that we understand biological aging completely or even close to complete, but we know enough about the mechanisms that we can intervene in that biological aging process and have significant impacts on health outcomes. And that's been shown in every laboratory animal where it's been studied. Dr. Matt Kaeberlein, PhD. Dr. Anton Titov, MD. 


Now, you can argue that you know, laboratory animals are different from people. And that's true, you can argue that these interventions may not work the same way in people. Dr. Matt Kaeberlein, PhD. Dr. Anton Titov, MD. And that's also true, although I think that that's harder, that's a harder case to really make if you understand the biology. But what I don't think you can argue with is that we really should be devoting more resources towards understanding to what extent can these interventions that target the biology of aging have an impact on human health outcomes during aging, because as we've already talked about, you know, I think it's cautiously optimistic to say that some of these interventions could increase healthspan and people by a decade, I don't at all think that that's outside the realm of reasonable expectation. And the fact is right now that the National Institutes of Health budget puts about one half of 1% of biomedical research spending through the NIH towards this problem towards understanding the role of biological aging in human disease, or even animal disease, mouse disease, one half of 1%, it's about I think, $300 million a year if you look at what the NIH spends on cancer, and this is before the recently announced, you know, renewal of the Cancer Moonshot by the Biden administration, even before that, the NIH spends $6 billion a year on cancer. Dr. Matt Kaeberlein, PhD. Dr. Anton Titov, MD. And I think you can make an argument we've had a war on cancer for 50 years, that at that investment level, the payoff has not been as great as we might have anticipated. And I firmly believe that's because people have largely focused on trying to cure the disease after people are already sick instead of trying to prevent the disease by targeting the underlying biology of aging. So I think it's a much more promising and impactful approach to keep people healthy and to delay or prevent the onset and progression of not just cancers, but heart disease and diabetes, dementia and kidney disease, and immune senescence and other diseases of aging, simultaneously by targeting the biology of aging. Dr. Matt Kaeberlein, PhD. Dr. Anton Titov, MD. And so I think that's just a, it's just a discussion that those of us in the field need to keep coming back to, and keep trying to, you know, impress upon people. How much more effective and efficient that kind of an approach can be compared to where we still, as a biomedical community, are putting most of our resources, which is in sick care, which is in trying to treat people after they're already sick, which is much harder to do. And I think we should have learned by now, much less effective than trying to keep people healthy. And we have a good shot at keeping people healthy. So I'll stop with that. But I think it's important to continue to make that point. Dr. Matt Kaeberlein, PhD. Dr. Anton Titov, MD. 


These are very important points clear? Well, Professor Kaeberlein, thank you very much for this very informative conversation to attach to on very significant number of points on the macro level on the high view, as well as on the molecular level and practical level. Dr. Matt Kaeberlein, PhD. Dr. Anton Titov, MD. So we hope to come back to you in the future, especially with the clinical trials you are leading both in humans and then animals and then companion dogs. So thank you very much for this conversation, and we're looking forward to continuing this discussion in the future.


Thank you. It's been a pleasure.

You can start anti-aging interventions late in life and still increase longevity. 14
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Wisdom from top longevity researcher. Sex differences in aging. Old can still slow aging. 13
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Future in anti-aging research. Young blood transfusions, reprogramming of cells. 12
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Genes in a lab and in nature act differently. Anti-aging research across species. 11
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Anti-aging drugs are also active against bacteria and viruses? Rapamycin. 10
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Sex differences in health and aging. Why women differ from men in healthspan? 7
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