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Los Angeles Times
a day ago
- Health
- Los Angeles Times
Want to feel 50 at 80? ‘Super Agers' researcher shares his do's and don'ts
Cardiologist Eric Topol is one of the leading medical researchers in the world. A founder of the Scripps Research Translational Institute in La Jolla, Calif., Dr. Topol is also the author of a New York Times bestselling new book, 'Super Agers: An Evidence Based Approach to Longevity.' I recently sat down with Topol to discuss his book's insights into slowing down, or turning back, our aging clocks to become more like super agers — or who he calls the 'Wellderly' — people who live well into their 80s and 90s without any chronic illness or disease. A comprehensive answer to that question requires reading his book, written for a lay audience curious about the latest (and upcoming) scientific breakthroughs in longevity medicine. But in our hour-long conversation, Topol discussed several do's and don'ts for anyone seeking to make 80 the new 50. If there is one main thesis to Topol's book, it's that healthy aging is a function of a strong immune system, which can defend against diabetes, cancer, heart disease and other chronic conditions. 'I keep saying to myself that old thing about the economy: 'It's the immune system, stupid,' you know?' Topol told me. 'Because it really is.' He suggests focusing on habits that support and build immune health: I'll go deeper into some of these specific strategies, like sleep and nutrition, below. But the common denominator is supporting a robust immune function, Topol said. 'We should be having immune system testing as we get older,' he said, 'because it is the reason why aging can hurt us.' Most employer-provided health insurance programs cover only the minimum annual tests to gauge basic heart health and disease risks, cholesterol level and hormone health. 'Standard medicine is missing out, leaving too many unsolved questions about a person's risk,' Topol said. 'Just do the tests based on a person's risk; the yield is much higher.' He recommends a few lower-cost, specific tests to help personalize medical care and guide preventive strategies that can help flag potential disease risks that most insurance-covered tests do not: In 'Super Agers,' Topol writes at length about the bidirectional communication between gut hormones and the brain, and calls it critical to healthy immune function. Gut hormones are chemical messengers made by special cells in the digestive tract that help control digestive functions. They communicate with the brain through the bloodstream and the vagus nerve, which runs through the throat and vocal cords and connects the gut and brain. 'I'm pretty well-convinced now that the gut hormone story is the most extraordinary thing I've ever seen in medical intervention,' he told me. 'Because the gut hormones talk to the immune system, and they talk to the brain, which is mission control for the immune system.' 'It isn't just the microbiome, it's the gut's hormone production,' he said. 'The way to a person's brain and to healthy aging, it likely will be through their gut.' Here's how to nourish the two-way communication along the so-called gut-brain axis: We all know that getting enough sleep is critical to health and specifically to healthy aging, and many doctors rightfully call Americans' chronic lack of proper sleep a public health crisis. But there's another side to the sleep story, Topol said, admitting his own surprise: According to plenty of clinical research, for people in their late 30s and older, getting more than seven to eight hours of sleep was associated with greater mortality risks, he said. 'The principal finding was that about seven hours is the optimal duration of sleep,' he writes in his book. 'Every one-hour-a-night increase in sleep duration above that seven- to eight-hour threshold is associated with 12% higher risk of total cardiovascular disease.' To improve sleep function, Topol recommends maintaining a consistent bedtime and waking schedule, and avoiding eating or drinking alcohol for a few hours before sleep. The convergence of AI with advances in biomedical data — such as genomics, microbiome analysis and digital health monitoring — create a transformative force that can radically improve disease prediction, prevention and personalized care, Topol told me. For consumers, AI is a powerful tool, he said, that can still be grossly mistaken, sometimes. So with caution and vigilance for AI 'hallucinations' that provide flat-out wrong information, here's how you can use it to help you age with strength:
Vancouver Sun
4 days ago
- Health
- Vancouver Sun
How a scientist who studies ‘super agers' exercises for a longer life
Seventeen years ago, Eric Topol, a cardiologist and founder of the Scripps Research Translational Institute in the La Jolla neighborhood of San Diego, set out to discover why some people age so well, when others don't. Aged 53 at the time, Topol considered healthy aging to be of deep scientific – and personal – interest. He also suspected the answer was genetic. So, with colleagues, he spent more than six years sequencing the genomes of about 1,400 people in their 80s or older with no major chronic diseases. All qualified, Topol felt, as 'Super Agers.' But they shared few, if any, genetic similarities, he and his colleagues found, meaning DNA didn't explain their super aging. So, what did, Topol and his colleagues wondered? Discover the best of B.C.'s recipes, restaurants and wine. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of West Coast Table will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. His new book, 'Super Agers: An Evidence-based Approach to Longevity,' is his answer. Synthesizing hundreds of studies about health, disease and aging, his book talks about a future where advanced drugs, biochemistry and artificial intelligence should allow us to turn back the clock and slow how rapidly we age. Already, he says, we can dramatically increase our chances of becoming super agers with a few lifestyle tweaks, such as eating better (avoid processed foods) and sleeping enough (seven hours is good). But there's one lifestyle change, he says, that influences aging far more than any other. It also has altered his own life the most. To learn more, I talked with Topol, 70, about what he's doing to become a super ager and how the rest of us can do the same. Our conversation has been edited for length and clarity. So, what is the single most important lifestyle change people can make to age better? Of all the things we know about, the one that rises to the very top is exercise. In fact, it's the only intervention in people that has shown any effect on slowing the body-wide aging clock, meaning it appears to change how rapidly we age. Of course, other lifestyle factors, like diet and social interactions, are critically important. But if there is one thing that has the most exceptional evidence for healthy aging, it's exercise. What kind of exercise? For decades, as a cardiologist, I would always be emphasizing aerobic exercise to my patients, whether that was walking or bicycling or swimming or elliptical or you name it. I'd say to get at least 30 minutes most days. And that's what I did myself. I didn't really accept the importance of strength training until I began researching the book. And now? When I saw all the evidence, I became totally convinced. Resistance training and grip strength have extraordinary correlations with healthy aging. And so, well over a year ago, I went from being pretty much a weakling – I never worked on any muscles, except my legs, from doing lots of bicycling and hiking and walking – to now I'm stronger than I've ever been in my life, and it's just been terrific. I've got better balance and posture, too. What's your strength training routine like? Do you work with a trainer? Well, I didn't want to hurt myself and I was definitely a beginner, so I did start off with a trainer a couple of times a week. But now it's only about once a month. And I tell people, you don't have to have a trainer. You can find good information about getting started online. Do you work out at a gym or at home? I do it all at home. It saves time and expense. I tell my patients, the more convenient and practical your training is, the more likely it is to get done, and that sure works for me. I usually do planks, lunges, squats, sit-ups on a medicine ball, the cobra, and a bunch of other floor exercises. I also use resistance bands. And I've learned about the importance of things like balance, standing on a foam pad, that kind of thing. Do you stand on one leg? Yes, I do. I also try to touch my shin while standing on one foot. All of this, the strength training, the balance, the rest, it's made me feel so strong and fit. I feel like I should have done this decades ago. Is it ever too late to start doing this kind of training? Absolutely not. It's never too late. This idea that you can't build muscle or strength as you age is silly. No matter what your age, and I'm not young anymore, you're fully capable of getting stronger and athletically fit. You still do aerobic exercise? Of course. I used to do aerobics six out of seven days a week, for 30, sometimes 40 minutes. Now I do aerobics about four times a week and integrate the resistance training the other days. And sometimes I do both. But it's still less than an hour. I don't have enough time to do more and that's an important point. When I talk to my patients about exercise, we get into the details of their lives. They're working. They're tired. So we talk about when they can fit in time for exercise. Do they have a lunch break? Maybe they can go for a brisk walk. Or do lunges at home later. In the book, you talk about how being outside and being with other people are both important for healthy aging. What about exercising outside with some friends? Oh, yeah, that's great. The data suggests that, as we get older, we tend to become recluses. And that's not good for healthy aging. And being in nature – I never would have thought that would be important for health. But the data are strong. If you can be outside moving around in nature with friends, that's a twofer, a threefer. What's the endgame here? It's not just living longer, right? No, not at all. The goal is extending our healthspan, our years of life that are without the major age-related diseases, especially cancer, cardiovascular disease and neurodegeneration. What we can see from studies is that you can get seven to 10 years of extra healthy aging from lifestyle factors, especially exercise. What age do you want to live to? Well, I don't have any of the age-related diseases yet. So, as long as that goes on, I'd be happy to get well into my 80s and beyond. I'd say that if you're 85 and you don't have any of those diseases, you've hit the jackpot. I'm doing my best to get there.
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Want to live to a healthy old age? Here's what a top doctor does based on hard science
Editor's note: The podcast Chasing Life With Dr. Sanjay Gupta explores the medical science behind some of life's mysteries big and small. You can listen to episodes here. Who among us wouldn't want to live a good life well into our 90s, especially if we could do it disease-free while still being as witty and spry as Betty White, as eloquent as Toni Morrison or as civically engaged as Jimmy Carter? But you'd need good genes to live that long, right? Not necessarily, according to Dr. Eric Topol, founding director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute in La Jolla, California, and former chairman of cardiovascular medicine at the Cleveland Clinic. For almost 20 years, Topol has been studying a group of 1,400 Super Agers, or people who reached the age of 80 and beyond without developing one of three common, chronic, age-related conditions (cancer, heart disease and neurodegenerative disease), as part of the Wellderly study. To his surprise, when his team conducted whole-genome sequencing on all the Wellderly study participants, the researchers found nothing genetic, across the board, that conferred an age and health advantage. Topol's new book, 'Super Agers: An Evidence-Based Approach to Longevity,' explores the other factors at play and the science that backs them up. He examines lifestyle factors such as diet, exercise and sleep. He also looks at new technologies including the following : polygenic risk scores that sift through a person's DNA to quantify disease risk; the new science of 'omics' (for example, proteomics to analyze the complete set of proteins expressed by a body) that can be used to produce organ clocks measuring how fast our individual organs are aging; and artificial intelligence to synthesize all available health data points. All these technologies show promise in helping more people, if not reach Super Ager status, then achieve a longer health span by either delaying the onset of disease or aggressively treating conditions to prevent progression and complications. Topol, who will soon turn 71, practices what he preaches. 'I hope to be (a Super Ager),' he told CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta, recently, on his podcast Chasing Life. 'If I can get another 10 or 15 years without an age-related disease, that'd be great. And I've really doubled down on the things that I can do to help get there.' Exactly which steps has the doctor-scientist who studies Super Agers taken to increase his odds of reaching their ranks? You can listen to the full episode here. 'I made extensive changes from the research, once we learned that it isn't in your genes … to achieve healthy aging, free of cancer, free of cardiovascular disease and free of neurodegenerative disease,' Topol said. One of the biggest changes Topol said he made was to his exercise routine. 'I used to only do aerobic exercise, and as a cardiologist, that was my thing,' he said. 'Now I do balance training and strength training (as well). It's an extensive difference. … And so, I'm more strong and fit than I've ever been.' In fact, exercise is so important that Topol ranks it as No. 1 on the list for anyone who wants to get started on the path of a longer life. 'It's free. And if you're not doing anything, if you're a sedentary, then start with walks, brisk walks if you can, and keep increasing it,' he said. 'Challenge yourself (with) hills and pace … if you are working up a sweat, that's a really good sign.' (Check with your doctor before starting any new exercise routine.) To get your upper body in shape, he recommends resistance bands, and to improve balance, he said to practice standing on one foot, then the other. 'These are all free or cost minimum,' he said, noting that with a few inexpensive items you can do this at home, no gym membership required. 'So work on that and then other things will start to fall in place. … If you exercise more, you'll sleep better, too.' Which brings us to the next major change Topol made. 'I realized how important (sleep) is because of 'glymphatics.' That was a new insight in the book: about deep sleep and getting these waste products out of your brain,' he said, referring to the recently discovered glymphatic system, which helps flush out waste products in the brain and central nervous system, much like the lymphatic system does for the rest of the body. 'I was a poor sleeper,' he confessed, so he worked 'extensively' on improving the different factors that could impact it. 'Things like … what do I eat? And when do I eat? Also hydrating, mostly early in the day … to have less interrupted sleep.' He added that for him fasting is 'detrimental' to his sleep, as are both exercising or eating a big meal too late in the evening. And, do not give short shrift to sleep regularity, Topol advised. 'I used to go to sleep all over the place (in terms of time), and now I'm very regimented, except for maybe one night a week,' he said, noting that this tweak was 'phenomenally effective' in levelling up his sleep game. As for diet, Topol (who hasn't touched red meat in 40 years but does eat fish) said he wasn't surprised the evidence showed that a plant-based diet with enough lean protein 'prevailed as the best.' 'What was interesting, though, is how toxic (and) pro inflammatory ultraprocessed foods were,' he said, adding that he does everything he can to minimize UPF — which he jokingly calls UFOs, or alien food . 'It's hard to get it to zero, but I've (made a) conscious effort.' Topol said he also increased his protein intake 'some,' due to his age and because he started strength training, 'but I don't go to toxic levels that are advocated by others, that have no evidence (and) that are pro-inflammatory.' He said he keeps protein to about 90 grams a day for his 180-pound (82-kilogram) frame, by adding nuts, legumes (including beans) and more fish, even canned tuna in water, to his diet. 'I generally eat a salad every night,' he said. 'Now I'm a little more conscious about having something with it. … But (it's) not the protein craze that's being advocated by some of the extremists.' What about supplements and vitamins? 'I don't rule out that they could help (if) you have a specific deficiency — if for some reason your vitamin D is very low, or your vitamin B12,' Topol said. But 'for healthy people who are not symptomatic (and) who take good care of themselves,' he said, 'there's no data to show that these provide any benefit' much less an antiaging one. 'I think they're a waste of money, and some of these supplements have potentially adverse effects,' he said. 'It's just infuriating because they're not regulated, so (marketers) can say anything, and people believe it and buy it.' When it comes to consuming alcohol, Topol said he keeps his drinking 'light,' to fewer than seven drinks per week, after which the risks start adding up quickly. He said it doesn't seem to affect his own sleep, but it might impact that of others, so he recommends watching out for that. Another top-of-the-list item: mental health and stress management. Topol mainly turns to exercise to help navigate both of these elements, but he said being out in nature is another often-overlooked route. 'The nature prescription is part of the book. There really is something to this,' he noted, adding that he takes advantage of San Diego's climate and location to do plenty of hiking and walking. 'It's good for mental health, it's good for stress and anxiety, just to be out in our environment.' It's never too late to start any or all of these lifestyle adjustments, Topol said. 'These diseases take 20 years at least (to develop). So, you get even more (bang) if you start in your 40s and 50s or 60s … but if you start when you're 70 (or) 80, you're still going to derive years of healthy aging, maybe not quite as many, but still,' he said. And because these common, chronic, age-related conditions — cancer, heart disease and neurodegenerative diseases — do take so long to fully manifest, Topol said we have time to intervene to change their trajectory. But to fully leverage that latency period before the symptoms of a disease appear, it's important to be aware of personal risk, so people and their doctors (and society more broadly) can focus prevention and early detection efforts on the right people at the right time. 'Knowing one's risk — that's the next part, which is: we're going to prevent these three diseases in the future. We can now, and we're going to even get better at that,' Topol said. Topol said he learned from his polygenic risk scores that he's at high risk for coronary artery disease, despite not having a family history. So, he has focused on getting his LDL cholesterol down. 'I've gotten it low, and perhaps I got more aggressive about that. I've checked my other lipids, like Lp(a) (lipoprotein[a]), so I feel like I've done everything I can to go into high prevent-mode for that.' Topol said wants to get his immunome (all the genes and proteins of his immune system) mapped, to measure how well his immune system is functioning. It's a measurement he believes will one day soon be commonplace for everyone. He already has data on 'every virus I've ever been exposed to and every autoantibody that I have.' He also plans on having his organ clocks measured, because different organs (such as the heart and brain) age at different rates, putting people at higher risk for certain diseases. 'I think it's going to be very helpful, because then I'll know (how) my heart organ clock correlates with my risk of heart disease. 'So those are some of the things I've done and/or I want to do,' he said. 'It's an extraordinary time in medicine, because we have a path to prevention,' Topol said, 'because of the way the science of aging (is developing), with these metrics like organ clocks and protein biomarkers and our genetics — all these layers of data — we are going to be able to prevent these diseases. And that's exciting. We've never done that before.' We hope these insights help you extend your health span. Listen to the full episode here. And join us next week on the Chasing Life podcast when we dive into the mysteries of memory. CNN Audio's Eryn Mathewson contributed to this report.
National Geographic
05-05-2025
- Health
- National Geographic
7 simple science-backed rules for living longer
Skip the supplements and the cryotherapy: Experts say the best biohack for adding years to your life is exercise. For instance, research shows that yoga can help with cellular aging, mobility, balance, mental health, and protecting against cognitive decline. Photograph by Andy Richter, Nat Geo Image Collection Humans have long tried to cheat death. And over the last 40 years, this collective obsession with longevity has led to landmark scientific breakthroughs and a booming anti-aging industry. Scientists are chasing novel interventions to turn back the clock, while health-conscious biohackers are volunteering as lab rats—taking drugs like rapamycin and 'young blood' plasma infusions in hopes of staying forever young. Annually, the average American spends more than $6,000 on wellness. (Can aging be cured? Scientists are giving it a try.) Scientists are closer than ever to cracking the code of aging, yet the broader field of longevity is awash with misinformation. To set the record straight, Eric Topol, a pioneering cardiologist and one of the world's top-cited scientists, wrote Super Agers: An Evidence-Based Approach to Longevity. 'Science has shown us that reversing aging, not just extending lifespan, is possible,' says Topol, the founder and director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute. 'While the science is advancing at high velocity, the predators are also flooding in, hawking products or services that aren't proven, potentially dangerous, or a waste of money.' In conversation with National Geographic, he discusses the technology revolutionizing the way we age, the pervasive pseudoscience running rampant across the longevity movement, and the most powerful 'biohacks' that could transform your health. In a sea of quack 'experts' and wellness influencers cashing in on our fear of death, Topol offers an evidence-based guidebook to aging well: 1. Remember that genes aren't your destiny If your family medical history is dotted with devastating diseases like cancer, heart disease, or Alzheimer's, your genes can feel like a death sentence. But according to Topol and extensive longitudinal data, genetics only account for about 20 percent of human longevity. The other 80 percent? Lifestyle choices, life circumstances, and environmental factors. 'For healthy aging, it's largely not a genetic story,' says Topol. 'You have a lot of power.' Many people don't adopt healthy lifestyles because they have a fatalistic attitude about their genes, says Topol. But evidence suggests that if people adopt certain data-backed habits—detailed below—they can gain at least five to seven more years of healthy life, free from age-related disease. (How old are you really? The answer is written on your face.) 2. Exercise—it's the most potent 'biohack' known to humankind From social media to self-help books, biohacks abound: Influencers on these platforms recommend trying supplement regimes, cryotherapy, whole-body MRIs, NAD+ IV drips, and stem cell treatments, to name a few. Most come with a hefty price tag, but truly effective anti-aging strategies don't have to be expensive. Exercise is our single best defense against age-related disease, says Topol. Some estimates suggest that one minute of exercise is worth five minutes of healthy living; seven minutes for high intensity interval training (HIIT) workouts. Being active—defined as briskly walking at least 150 minutes per week—is associated with living an extra 4.5 years. Topol says that exercise is so effective because it positively impacts a myriad of bodily systems: the heart, brain, pancreas, skeletal muscle, GI tract, liver, body fat, the gut microbiome, and peripheral blood vessels. It has been shown to inflammation and all-cause mortality over a lifetime. To maximize the benefits, however, you need to go beyond aerobic workouts and incorporate strength training into your routine. Lifting weights helps stave off bone loss, preserve muscle, improve balance, lower inflammation, and reduce joint pain. (What lifting weights does to your body—and your mind.) Topol suggests about 150 minutes per week or more of moderate physical activity like dancing or yoga (or 75 minutes or more of vigorous physical activity like swimming) and resistance training at least two times per week. If you can't make it to the gym, sprinkle in a few exercise 'snacks,' like push-ups, wall-sits, or lunges throughout the day. 3. Follow this evidence-based diet for longevity One eating pattern trumps others in terms of healthy aging: The Mediterranean diet. This diet is all about 'eating the rainbow'—consuming plenty of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, lean proteins and healthy fats. Scores of nutrition studies, including one published in Nature in March 2025, show that this kaleidoscope of nutrient-dense, minimally processed foods reduces inflammation, lowers cholesterol, improves blood pressure, and helps glucose control. Over time, eating Mediterranean cuts the risk of some of the top killer diseases like heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and Alzheimer's. (The Mediterranean diet has stood the test of time for a reason: It works.) As far as how much lean protein you need, Topol recommends about 1.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight—which he notes is lower than the super-high protein intake that's common in biohacking circles. One food group to avoid? Ultra-processed foods, which make up 60 percent of Americans' daily energy intake, says Topol. These foods, which dominate supermarket shelves, have been linked to more than 30 health problems, most strongly heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and mental health issues like depression and anxiety. Not only do they crowd out beneficial nutrients on our plates, ultra-processed foods may also cause direct harm via inflammation, gut microbiome disruption, and blood sugar spikes. Cooking at home and swapping packaged foods for minimally processed ones can help avoid these effects. Intermittent fasting and simple calorie restriction also show promise in extending lifespan, mostly in animal studies. But scientists haven't yet nailed down the exact effects in humans—so these approaches aren't yet widely recommended. 4. Sleep deeply Sleep enables biological renewal, helping the brain and body to recover from activities during waking hours. But as we get older, we tend to sleep worse—and this comes at a steep cost. Some experts suggest poor sleep fundamentally alters the biological machinery of aging, throwing our body's inner restore-and-repair setting out-of-whack. Too much or too little sleep can spur side effects that include a higher risk of premature death, heart problems, cancer, type 2 diabetes, immune issues, obesity, Alzheimer's disease, high blood pressure, stroke, and worsened mental health— stemming from metabolic, cellular, and hormonal disruption. (7 science-backed tips for sleeping better.) While we sleep, the brain's glymphatic system also clears away toxins and metabolic waste. Without enough deep rest, toxic byproducts linger and can spike the risk of brain disease. To sleep better Topol recommends keeping a consistent sleep and wake schedule, aiming for seven hours per night, plus doing regular exercise and not eating too close to bedtime. 5. Flex your social muscles Loneliness doesn't just take a toll on the mind; it can cut our lives short. Mounting evidence suggests social isolation can be as dangerous as smoking half a pack of cigarettes a day. It's associated with a greater risk of cardiovascular disease, dementia, stroke, depression, anxiety, and early death. 'Humans depend on social connection,' says Topol. 'But as we get older, we often 'go into a cave' and become socially isolated, which is associated with bad outcomes.' Maintaining strong relationships—even just with one or two people—helps counter chronic stress, which can make us sick. Connection can also help improve self-esteem and self-motivation, two factors that contribute to healthier habits. Topol advises getting outdoors into nature, picking up a hobby, or engaging in music or the arts with others—activities that promote longevity too. 6. Avoid the toxic offenders On top of adding healthy habits, it's crucial to cut out the bad like smoking and drinking. The biggest environmental threats to avoid? Air pollution, toxins like pesticides, microplastics, and forever chemicals. These factors are sneakily pervasive so avoiding them can feel like an impossible battle. But small changes do make a difference: Topol suggests swapping out the plastic in your kitchen for glass or wooden alternatives, using air purifiers and water filters, and buying organic produce. (Forever chemicals are hiding in your kitchen. Here's where—and what to do.) Meanwhile, skip untested products or services that haven't been proven effective. By 2030, the longevity market is projected to reach $44.2 billion. People are desperate for ways to feel better, making them prime targets for longevity-focused entrepreneurs; 95 percent of Americans over 60 have at least one chronic disease. 'Longevity companies are really good at promotion, marketing, and using social media to negate where there is truth, evidence and data,' Topol says. 'The medical community has lost people's trust, and the only way to regain it over time is to have compelling evidence that overwhelms the pseudoscience.' Topol warns to use caution when evaluating wellness hacks without robust evidence, including vitamins and supplements. Instead, focus on the emerging technologies, lifestyle changes, and treatments that are backed by science. 7. Leverage the longevity tech revolution Armed with AI, big data, and billions of dollars in research funding, academic scientists and longevity startups are pursuing countless innovations to unlock aging. Scientists are in various stages of developing precision medical forecasting techniques like 'organ clocks' that catch and prevent diseases long before symptoms appear; new drugs for flushing out 'zombie' cells that drive inflammation; immunotherapies that tweak immune function to better fight disease, and epigenetic reprogramming to make old cells youthful again. There's also evidence that GLP-1 weight-loss drugs can help curb some of humanity's most intractable age-related conditions. This technological revolution makes Topol 'very optimistic' for the future of our collective health span. 'We are going to make progress against age-related diseases like we've never seen before,' says Topol. 'And we don't have to reverse aging. We just need to identify who's at risk, put them on surveillance tracks, and get ahead of the target disease.' While we may not see the end of disease in the next two decades as some predict, we can age healthier than ever before. And we don't have to wait for these technologies to hit the market—making lifestyle changes now could add healthy years to our lives. Many of the most devastating diseases of aging take 20-plus years to take hold, so it's never too early or late to start.
Axios
05-05-2025
- Health
- Axios
The real longevity breakthroughs are already here
Silicon Valley billionaires like Sam Altman, Peter Thiel and Jeff Bezos are pouring billions into ventures trying to slow or reverse the aging process, wagering that reprogrammable cells and AI-driven drug design can deliver a fountain of youth — or at least ward off death. Physician-researcher Eric Topol offers this dose of reality: The real game-changers are already here. The big picture: In "Super Agers," his new book due out Tuesday, the founder of the Scripps Research Translational Institute writes that the answer doesn't lie in turning back time, but in harnessing our improved capabilities to predict and prevent chronic diseases. The hunt for immortality is as old as life itself. But in the last decade, the once niche longevity field has exploded into the mainstream, drawing in scientists, biotechs, longevity clinics and wellness influencers. The offerings now veer into sci-fi: reprogramming cells to a younger state, tweaking genes, whole-body MRIs and blood plasma cocktails. "This craze on longevity like we've never had before, part of that is being propelled by the science of aging going into high gear," Topol said. Topol says the work, while promising, has largely been shown to work in animals and carries safety concerns, such as the potential to cause cancer. Ultimately, it may never achieve the goal of reversing aging in humans — and could be prohibitively expensive. Between the lines: Instead, Topol says the cause for optimism is that the top age-related diseases — cancer, cardiovascular disease and neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's — take decades to develop and give us time to prevent them. "The common threads are these three diseases take a long time. They all have the same pathogenesis or underpinnings, and we have new tools like we never had," Topol said. There are much better ways to accurately narrow down who's most at risk of developing disease using certain relatively inexpensive tests for biomarkers that measure the biological age of different organs in the body. Armed with that data and AI, doctors will be able to target increased disease surveillance and lifestyle interventions accordingly for an individual rather than following general population-based guidance. There are also certain drugs like GLP-1s that are showing remarkable ability to treat and prevent disease because of their anti-inflammatory processes. "We're in a really power position now to achieve the fantasy of primary prevention," Topol said. "To be able to prevent a disease because at the individual level, you have this unique information about you, that's what's really bringing this into reality." Zoom in: One of the most important pieces to this is the expanding understanding of how lifestyle can influence factors like inflammation and immunity — and thus our health — as we age. More than ever is understood about how the makeup of our diet, types of exercise and sleep quality are related to aging of the brain and the body and the immune system, he said. We also better understand the long-term health impact of limiting environmental toxicity, like exposure to microplastics, forever chemicals and pesticides, as well as addressing social factors like time in nature and social isolation. "Lifestyle factors is the biggest thing we have right now, and essentially, they're all free," Topol said. "You don't need any influencer to try to make money. These are all things we can do, all of us, that are actually of low cost or free." Of note: Policymakers are also paying attention to the world of longevity. Last week, a group of researchers on aging met with House lawmakers and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator Mehmet Oz on Capitol Hill to discuss the science. The intrigue: Elon Musk reportedly refused to invest in longevity, believing it's a waste of money and could cause society to stagnate. The bottom line: Skip the immortality serum. It's actually a reboot to the practice of medicine and some lifestyle changes that could ultimately add years of healthy living to your life — no billionaire bank account required.
