In St. Augustine, Florida, you can visit Ponce de León’s Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park for an admission fee of $18.00. There, you can drink a sample of the miraculous water. You might even feel a bit younger … but only if you believe and are suggestible … or perhaps are just thirsty. This fountain may be of historical interest, but it is not of any therapeutic value.
A spring whose waters restore the youth of anyone who drinks or bathes in them is a myth that dates back to prehistoric times. Herodotus wrote about it in the 5th century BC. The Spanish conquistador Ponce de León was the first European explorer to reach Florida. The King of Spain had authorized him to lead an expedition to search for “the Islands of Benimy” and he originally mistook Florida for an island. He was not searching for a fountain of youth; that myth wasn’t attached to his name until long after his death. But even if he had drunk of said fountain of youth, he’d still be dead.
Hope springs eternal, and history repeats itself. Today there are countless modern versions of the Fountain of Youth. Dietary supplements and other treatments are claimed to reverse the effects of aging and prolong life. Their promoters claim there is science behind them; in reality, they are just more myths. Centenarians share their secrets for a long life; they are all different. No treatment has ever been proven to keep humans young or make them live longer. Dr. Joe Schwarcz of McGill’s Office for Science and Society said it best: “the science is all wet and drips with crackpot notions.”
What Happens to Our Bodies as We Age?
Many wines improve with age, but human bodies don’t. We deteriorate with age. We develop wrinkles and gray hair, the skin thins and bruises more easily, vision and hearing decline and cataracts develop, blood pressure increases, bone density decreases, strength and agility decrease, the waist thickens, joints become arthritic, memory loss occurs, height may decrease by 1–2 inches, we learn and think more slowly, reaction time decreases, sexual functions change and hormone levels drop, and we become more likely to develop the diseases associated with old age such as cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, and heart disease. Psychologically, it’s not all bad: the elderly have accumulated a vast store of life experience and general knowledge, sometimes but not always leading to wisdom. And believe it or not, older people tend to be happier.
As the World Health Organization explains, “At the biological level, ageing results from the impact of the accumulation of a wide variety of molecular and cellular damage over time. This leads to a gradual decrease in physical and mental capacity, a growing risk of disease, and ultimately, death.” Note the words “wide variety of molecular and cellular damage.” It is simplistic to think any single intervention could reverse all of those different damages.
Insulin resistance is a sign of aging, and the diabetes drug metformin has been shown to extend the lifespan of mice and appears to rejuvenate Caenorhabditis elegans, a 1-millimeter roundworm, a nematode, more famously and elegantly known as C. elegans. Unfortunately, humans are not worms or mice.
A calorie restricted diet has reduced some biomarkers of aging in many species, such as primates, rats, mice, spiders, fruit flies, nematodes, and rotifers, but curiously it didn’t work for house flies, and there’s no good evidence that it works for humans. Even if it did, is maintaining yourself in a constant state of hunger a good trade-off for living longer? Lots of people apparently believe it is. There is even a Calorie Restriction Society International. Enthusiasts are reducing their calorie intake by 25% to 50%, which is unpleasant and impractical. Few people are willing or able to reduce their food intake by half, and there is concern that doing so might interfere with adequate nutrition. As the aging researcher Rozalyn Anderson quipped, “Life is difficult enough without engaging in some bonkers diet.” Intermittent fasting is more palatable, and it results in weight loss and health improvements. One popular version of this is to not eat for 12–14 hours after dinner — you get the 8 hours of sleep without thinking about eating (although you may dream about it), and if you can distract your attention from eating by doing other things for a few more hours, it’s doable. More difficult are the longer stints of intermittent fasting, and it was found that even a five-day-a-month calorie restriction diet caused 25% of participants to drop out. Let’s face it: people like to eat, and food is one of the pleasures of life that make life worth living.
Is Aging a Disease?
Aging is not an inevitable consequence for all life. There are some organisms that do not experience any decline in function as they get older, such as bristlecone pines. Lobsters don’t develop any signs of aging; they just keep getting bigger. Greenland sharks live over 500 years and don’t reach sexual maturity until they are 150 years old (that’s a long time to wait!). Certain jellyfish are apparently immortal.
David Sinclair is an anti-aging researcher who has a new book out called Lifespan: Why We Age and Why We Don’t Have To. He claims that aging is a disease that can be treated and even prevented. He foresees a future where people will live much longer (maybe even forever?) and will enjoy good health and vigor in old age. He provides an excellent overview of intriguing recent research findings. Sinclair puts his money where his mouth is and applies the findings to his own health regimen:
- He takes a gram each of NMN, (nicotinamide mononucleotide) resveratrol, and metformin daily.
- He takes vitamin D, vitamin K2, and 83 mg. of aspirin daily.
- He limits sugar, bread, and pasta intake, doesn’t eat desserts, and avoids eating meat.
- He skips one meal a day.
- He gets frequent blood tests to monitor biomarkers; if not optimal, he tries to moderate them with food and exercise.
- He stays active, goes to the gym, jogs, lifts weights, uses the sauna and then dunks in an ice-cold pool.
- He doesn’t smoke.
- He avoids microwaved plastic, excessive UV exposure, X-rays, and CT scans.
- He tries to keep environmental temperatures on the cool side.
- He maintains a BMI of 23–25.
He thinks it is working for him. He feels younger. Maybe he’s right, but he admits “It’s impossible to say if my regimen is working … but it doesn’t seem to be hurting.” Some of what he does has been studied and is known to improve health (exercising, not smoking, controlling weight) but much of it is based on speculation and hope.
His regimen reminds me of Ray Kurzweil, who explains in his book Fantastic Voyage how he combed the literature looking for anything that might allow him to live long enough for science to discover the key to immortality, which will then enable him to live forever. He gets frequent scans, cancer screens, and blood tests. He takes 250 pills a day: diet supplements like gingko and vinpocetine. He also takes several Chinese herbs. He spends one day a week in a clinic getting IV infusions of nutrients, IV chelation, and acupuncture. He meditates and gets massages. He had his mercury amalgam fillings removed, uses an ionic air filter, and follows a strict organic diet. He fears cell phones, shower water, electric razors, plastic, the aluminum in deodorants, and sugar. He claims that shiatsu and acupressure massage are intended to correct imbalances according to principles of energy flow between different organ systems in the body. He thinks water can record memories. Despite his research, much of what he advocates is not supported by the scientific evidence.
In my review of Sinclair’s book for Sciencebasedmedicine.org I explained why I found the research fascinating but didn’t find his arguments entirely convincing. In my opinion, both Sinclair and Kurzweil are overly optimistic and too willing to forge ahead before the evidence is in. Kurzweil is 71 and Sinclair is 50. Time will tell. If they both live well past 100, I might have to eat my words; but then I’ll probably die before they do. I’m 74 and have already lived longer than either of them—without the benefit of antiaging remedies.
The Research is Intriguing
The research suggests that a loss of information may be the singular reason we age. Sinclair believes aging occurs when cellular damage activates our epigenetic repair mechanisms and they become overwhelmed: genes that should be on switch off (and vice versa) and chaos ensues. He invokes hormesis: a little stress is good for us, but too much stress causes aging.
Research has identified a number of longevity genes that could also be called vitality genes. Experiments in animals have demonstrated that modifying the activity of these genes can speed or slow the changes of aging and can prolong life. Some of the factors being studied: sirtuins, NAD (Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide), rapamycin, TOR (target of rapamycin), NMN, the diabetes drug metformin, resveratrol, etc. Telomeres are a region of repetitive nucleotide sequences at the end of each chromosome: telomere shortening seems to play an important role in aging. Stem cells, genetic analysis, and new technologies are being studied. Mice given NAD became such enthusiastic runners that they broke the lab’s treadmill. There are anecdotal reports of NMN restoring fertility in aged women and, again, lifestyle changes such as exercising, eating less, avoiding tobacco, intermittent fasting, avoiding obesity, etc. may help delay aging.
I would love to think humans could live many more years in good health and maybe even live forever. But I am skeptical. The scientific studies are promising but provisional; they are far from definitive. The history of science shows us that early positive studies are all too frequently reversed by subsequent larger, better studies, and unforeseen consequences are common. There are many anti-aging dietary supplements on the market, with enticing names like Life Extension and Ageless Body. They contain varying mixtures of vitamins, collagen and whey proteins, antioxidants, herbs, minerals, and even a sugar (D-ribose). They claim many health benefits, but most of the ingredients and mixtures have never actually been tested for clinically significant health benefits, much less for longevity. The Fountain of Youth is still a myth. 
About the Author
Dr. Harriet Hall, MD, the SkepDoc, is a retired family physician and Air Force Colonel living in Puyallup, WA. She writes about alternative medicine, pseudoscience, quackery, and critical thinking. She is a contributing editor to both Skeptic and Skeptical Inquirer, an advisor to the Quackwatch website, and an editor of sciencebasedmedicine.org, where she writes an article every Tuesday. She is author of Women Aren’t Supposed to Fly: The Memoirs of a Female Flight Surgeon. Her website is SkepDoc.info.
This article was published on March 24, 2020.
Harriet Hall is an excellent writer. Contrary to what one commentator said, she did not assume a scientist would uncover the secret 2 greater longevity. Instead she exemplifies a couple individuals who are not scientists that search for prolonged life. I’m fascinated white sharks, and how they live so long, the one I was unaware, as Harriet pointed out, that some can live up to 500 years.
Others comment on Harriet’s theme have wondered why anyone would want to live forever. those of us who are curious and love learning above and beyond everything else would easily give our souls to live even another century and hope some ineffable God would still wrest our souls from the Devil just for loving life so much.
One factor has not been mentioned here: human overpopulation. If a significant proportion of the population could live forever, competition for space on earth would start to increase astronomically. I can foresee forced extermination of less vital individuals or the acceptance of war as a routine necessity to cull the population.
As I have watched my very smart, very active, very wise, parents age (Dad died at 92 and Mom still going strong at 95) I have learned that regardless of health, there is a limit to how old we can be and stay happy. We are not built, psychologically, to keep going and going. There is a limit to what we can absorb, enjoy, and intuit. We don’t like to accept it it, but by 30 we have absorbed the bulk of what we can absorb and the rest of our lives are spent (enjoyably) using what we learned. By 60-70-80 that is all done and any pleasure you get comes from watching the world progress without you. To live forever is a nightmare, not a dream.
Look, the body is a mechanistic system, and as such, should be able to be repaired even if we can’t do that now.
If you doubt this, then ask yourself how eggs and sperm, both as old as the bodies that produce them, can go on to produce a family lineage millions of years old?
There are obviously intrinsic systems that rejuvenate cell lines.
If the pursuit of longevity brings people satisfaction then good for them.
If you don’t want to live a long heathy life, then don’t.
If you want to pursue longevity, go for it. On the way you’ll be certain to cure cancers and cardiovascular disease as well as other diseases now considered a part of normal aging.
One other disease of aging? Probably the lack of passion, the lack of engagement, in life as we “enter our golden years.”
Many people seem to spend hours a day looking after their requirements, do they get those (healthful) hours back at the tailend of their lives?
For example, Ray Kurzweil spends one day a week in a clinic, that’s about 14% of his life; I just hope everything he does can extend his life more than 14% !!
I’m looking forward to *not* living forever. There’s a reason the mortals granted immortality in the Greek myths — Tithonus, the Sibyl, et al. — longed to die. All I want is to enjoy life overall from day to day, remain healthy to the last day, and then ‘cease upon the midnight with no pain’, i.e., die in my sleep. And outlive my cat, so she doesn’t wind up in a shelter or otherwise neglected or abused if I’m gone.
These researchers are definitely NOT enjoying life. They would most likely be happier not knowing the day of their death and just squeeze the best out of every moment. Enjoy every smile, help everyone you can and always try to have a kind word. I heard a minister say, “we all want to live forever, but don’t know what to do with ourselves on a rainy day!
The trouble with this article is the assumption that any such discovery will inevitably be made by scientists. In fact, scientists are the last people likely to make any real breakthrough discovery.
One way to increase human life-span is to breed for it. Selective breeding for longevity could add at least several decades to average life span within a few hundred years or so. If some cult or other group had started breeding for longevity, say, in late Roman times, when people certainly knew all they would need to know about stockbreeding, their descendents today could have a life-span of a few hundred years by now, given the results seen by selective breeding in domestic mammals for all sorts of physical characteristics.
And if they were smart enough to do that, they would also be smart enough to keep their mouths shut and not let the “normal” humans know about it for fear of winding up in a lab somewhere or being tortured to disclose the “secret”. What makes you so sure it has not already happened?
Another possible scenario would be that a formula has been found by a non-scientist that really works but requires some illegal ingredient, such as freshly-killed reproductive glands from young women, and the individual who discovered it has perforce become a serial killer who keeps himself and his immediate family alive by killing a fresh victim every time a new dose is needed, say every month or so. Obviously no discoverer would go to the media to tell the world about the discovery. And, again, it could have already happened and simply not been made public.