A DRUG that slows the ageing process and prevents cancer, heart disease and Alzheimer’s, could be on sale within five years, scientists claim.
The drug is made up of chemicals that mimic resveratrol, a compound found in the skins of red grapes.
Previous research has shown resveratrol reduces the impact of a high-fat diet, doubles stamina and extends the lifespan of mice.
Sirtris Pharmaceuticals has developed a pill based on two chemicals that act in the same way and the first human clinical trials have begun.
“The excitement here is that we’re not talking about red wine any more. We’re talking about real drugs,” Sirtris co-founder David Sinclair said.
“We will make a drug to treat one disease but it will, as an added bonus, protect you against most of the other diseases of the Western world.”
Sounds good. Sign me up!
Since the Dr. Sinclair study was published in Nature a flood of dubious companies have sprung up selling resveratrol. Many have no scientist, no labs, no quality control and no experience. Consumer Lab, an independent testing authority, evaluated the major brands and found many lacking in content and quality. The highest potency products that passed their evaluation were Biotivia, Transmax and Bioforte. A product by Life Extension Co. failed badly with only 26% of the claimed resveratrol. Another brand, Revatrol, had virtually no trans-resveratrol in its supplement. The ConsumerLab test results are available on their web site.
According to the NIH formula for converting from mice to humans the correct dose based upon the published studies is between 400mg and 4,000mg for a 70 kg man. The consensus seems to be that around 1,000mg is appropriate for a preventative dose and twice that to treat an existing condition.
Thanks Arnold, it once again goes to show that we need to ask questions at all times.
I personally wouldn’t take any ‘life extension drug’ that I hadn’t researched thoroughly on the net myself.
I’d recommend the same attitude to everybody else.
Good Morning Jay and Good Morning Arnold,
I have begun taking Resveratrol at my dr.s urging and hopefully the next time I have blood work done , it will bear out that resveratrol was a good move.
Let us know how that worked out, Gallileo.