Geroprotectors: The Science of Anti-Aging Compounds and Longevity

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• What Are Geroprotectors?
• Differentiating from Snake Oil
• Systemic Aging Effects
• Enhancing Resilience and Function
• Proactive Healthcare Approach
• Full Transcript

What Are Geroprotectors?

Dr. Brian Kennedy, MD, clarifies the definition of geroprotectors in his discussion with Dr. Anton Titov, MD. He explains that the term "geroprotector" was developed to replace the more ambiguous "anti-aging compound." A geroprotector is scientifically defined as an intervention that directly delays the biological aging process. This is a critical distinction in the field of longevity science.

Differentiating from Snake Oil

Dr. Brian Kennedy, MD, highlights a major challenge in the longevity field: differentiating credible science from unproven products. He tells Dr. Anton Titov, MD, that the term "anti-aging" is often co-opted by the supplement industry for untested skin products or pills. These products rarely affect systemic aging. Geroprotectors, in contrast, are backed by experimental data and rigorous testing. This ensures they are not "snake oil" but legitimate therapeutic candidates.

Systemic Aging Effects

The core function of a geroprotector is to target aging systemically. Dr. Brian Kennedy, MD, explains to Dr. Anton Titov, MD, that these compounds work on the underlying mechanisms of aging. By doing so, they have a wide range of downstream benefits. The most significant effect is the prevention or delay of multiple chronic diseases of aging. This includes conditions like heart disease, cancer, and neurodegeneration, which share aging as a common risk factor.

Enhancing Resilience and Function

Dr. Brian Kennedy, MD, describes how geroprotectors preserve physical resilience and function. He uses a simple analogy with Dr. Anton Titov, MD: comparing one's ability to run a 100-meter dash at different ages. A true geroprotector should help maintain this functional capacity. It also enhances the body's ability to recover from stressors, such as an infection like COVID-19. This preservation of resilience is a key marker of a compound's effectiveness.

Proactive Healthcare Approach

The philosophy behind geroprotectors represents a fundamental shift in medicine. Dr. Brian Kennedy, MD, articulates this to Dr. Anton Titov, MD. Instead of waiting for disease to manifest and then treating it ("sick care"), geroprotectors enable proactive "healthcare." This strategy involves intervening early in healthy individuals. The goal is to target the most important driver of age-related decline: the aging process itself. This paradigm aims to extend healthspan and improve quality of life.

Full Transcript

Dr. Anton Titov, MD: Geroprotectors. What are geroprotectors? And what are the criteria for the evaluation of compounds as potential geroprotectors?

Dr. Brian Kennedy, MD: It's always a little bit of a semantic argument. They started off calling them anti-aging compounds, but the term anti-aging brings in connotations of going to the supplement store and buying things off the shelf that are completely untested.

Skin products may help your skin with aging, but don't affect systemic aging. I think there's a lot of effort to try to find terms that differentiate things that affect systemic aging and that were experimentally tested from things that may be snake oil.

The term geroprotector really means something that delays the aging process. You would expect it to have many downstream effects, one of which being it would prevent the onset of chronic diseases of aging.

A geroprotector should preserve resilience. If you get COVID-19, you should recover better. It should delay functional decline. As we know, things get harder to do as you get older.

If you don't believe me, go run a 100-meter dash and see how fast you go now. Maybe it'll prevent that decline as well.

The concept is, instead of waiting till you get sick and doing sick care and targeting whatever disease you have, we're going to start earlier while you're healthy. We will do healthcare and find interventions that target the most important driver of decline, which is aging itself.

That's what geroprotectors do.